(22 January 2011)
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Caroline Hedwall leads and is looking for her own slice of history, as is 13-year old New Zealand amateur Lydia Ko who sits one shot behind after two rounds of the Bing Lee / Samsung Women&aposs NSW Open at Oatlands Golf Club in Sydney.
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Ko, who posted her second consecutive round of four-under par 68, is only one shot back from Swede Hedwall. If she wins she will surpass Amy Yang as the youngest amateur player to win an Australian Ladies Professional Golf Tour major tournament. Yang won the 2006 ANZ Ladies Masters as an amateur.
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Ko says she is here to gain experience but tomorrow’s result could possibly turn into something much more significant than that. When asked if she is now thinking about winning, the North Island Amateur Champion responded by saying “I’d actually be honoured to win”. She enjoys playing in front of people and hopes “that there are many more spectators tomorrow”.
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Looking forward to tomorrow the New Zealand representative was rather philosophical ” I just want to play the best I can, rather than caring about the score, it is a pros tournament and I feel proud of myself to play in this tournament, not many people can get in here, so I am honoured and proud of myself.
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rnOn the other side of the equation if Hedwall goes on to win, she will be one of the few players to win their first professional event at their first attempt.
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Hedwall birdied her final hole today, which she said provided a boost heading into the final round. She commented “It was nice to make birdie up the last, I saw the leaderboard on 18 and I really wanted to make the putt to give me a one shot lead”.
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Her game plan for tomorrow is to “try and play as well as I have for the last 2 days. It will be important to get off to a good start with a few birdies” she stated.
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The 21-year old rookie carded a 68 to go with her opening round of 67 to sit atop of the leaderboard. Ko is outright second with Australians Sarah Kemp (67) and Sarah Jane Smith (70) sharing third position. South Australian Stephanie Na (69) is outright fifth at five-under par, while Katherine Hull (69) and Australian amateur Breanna Elliot (68) are tied for sixth position a further shot back.
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Defending champion Sarah Oh (71) is not likely to accomplish three straight Women’s NSW Open wins as she is sitting eight shots adrift of the leader. Crowd favourite Laura Davies (75) is also out of the mix at the moment 9 shots back in a tie for 17th position.
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rnThe cut was made at 9-over par and 64 players will tee it up in the final round. First tee time is 7.50am and leaders will tee it up at 11.30am.
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