Published July 17, 2008 on April 22, 2018

Carlsson and Kemp Share Lead in Morocco

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Lynn Carlsson of Sweden and Australia’s Sarah Kemp surged into the third-round lead with impressive performances at the Lalla Meryem Cup in Morocco.

Carlsson, 22, from Varberg, fired a four-under-par 68 on the Blue Course at Royal Golf Dar Es Salam to take a share of the lead for the first time in her four-year professional career, while veteran Kemp, 32, from Tuncurry, New South Wales, carded a three-under-par 69.

Kemp, who has amassed 11 titles on the Australian Ladies Professional tour since 2005, is 10^th on the LET order of merit after a strong start to the season but is yet to secure her maiden Ladies European Tour victory. However, she is right where she wants to be with her game heading into the final round tomorrow.

She said: “Today was good, nice and solid. I shot in the 60s which was my goal at the start of the day and I’m very happy that I drove the ball well and remained pretty calm. It’s a very difficult course and you have to keep it straight off the tee and the greens are quite small. I played well today so hopefully I can do it again.”

This is Carlsson’s second start of the season on the LET after she missed the cut at the Investec South African Women’s Open, although she did tee up in the Terre Blanche Ladies Open on the LET Access Series a fortnight ago, where she tied for 23^rd place.

Carlsson said: “Today I played really solid and hit a lot of great shots into the green which gave me birdie opportunities. I’m excited for tomorrow and I just want to do my thing and enjoy the round.”

At five-under-par, the pair will enter the final round with a two-stroke lead over the defending champion, Klara Spilkova, from the Czech Republic.

She said: “I felt really good today. I hit a lot of fairways and greens, so I really enjoyed today and it was like last year. I’m looking forward to playing tomorrow.”

Last year, Spilkova came from four strokes back with a final round of 66 to win by a stroke over Suzann Pettersen and in 2016, it was the Spanish rookie Nuria Iturrios who came from two behind with a final round of 65 to win by six over Florentyna Parker.

There are 16 players within seven strokes of the lead who all have a strong chance tomorrow.