(7 January 2012 – Melbourne, Australia)
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Rebecca Flood fired her best round of golf since turning professional, a 6-under par 67 at Spring Valley Golf Club and is poised to record her first professional victory at the $125,000 Women&aposs Victorian Open.
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rnThe six-under round today combined with her opening round of two-under par at Woodlands has her alone at the top of the leaderboard at 8-under par and three clear of her nearest rival.
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rnFlood’s round included seven birdies and one lone bogey on the par 5 17th hole.
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rnThe 23-year-old had a laugh with her fiancé Geoff Artis at 3.30pm, which was at the halfway point of her round. It was the exact time that she was meant to be walking down the aisle to marry Geoff. Good friend and playing partner Stacey Keating came over and was humming “here comes the bride”, so they all had a chuckle. Flood went on to birdie her ninth hole.
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rn“I struck it well out there today, hit it fairly close and took the chances. I missed a couple early, but just tried to stay patient and really just took advantage of the par-fives."
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rnWhen asked about nerves before she tees off in the final round she responded "We&aposre all competitive, so there&aposll be some nerves there. But it&aposs just a matter of going out there and playing my own game."
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To record her first victory she will have to overcome a season campaigner and her mentor in her rookie year on the Ladies European Tour, Karen Lunn. Lunn carded a fine five-under par 68 and sits just three back in outright second place.
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rnWhen asked about playing with Karen, or Kaz as she calls her, she replied "We&aposre good friends with Kaz, both Geoff and I. My first year on (European) tour, she was my mentor. All the rookies (are) given a mentor and I drove her mad with questions, but she&aposs a country girl, too, so we&aposre really good friends."
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rnThe former Women’s British Open champion and eight time winner on the Ladies European Tour was very pleased with her form and to be in contention come tomorrow.
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rn"I&aposve had better scores, but it&aposs always satisfying when you play a top golf course," Lunn said.
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rn"Some of the pins were quite tough for the girls and there were some we couldn&apost get at so you just know you can&apost go for it (so) it is satisfying."
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rnSouth Korean Haeji Kang (74) and Frenchwomen Joanna Klatten (70) share third position at three-under-par. West Australian Jessica Speechley continues to impress in her professional debut, she carded an even-par round of 73 to be two-under par total and outright fifth.
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rnNew South Wales&apos Frances Bondad (73) and 15-year-old Victorian amateur Su-Hyun Oh (74) are tied for sixth a further shot adrift. The contest to be the leading amateur is likely to come down to the final holes with West Australian Minjee Lee (73) currently just one behind Oh. The New South Wales pair of Nikki Garrett (75) and Sarah Kemp (74) round out the top 10.
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rnExactly 50 players made the cut, the final round gets underway at 7am.
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