Nicole in 3way lead after third round at Women’s Indian Open golf

The 18th hole of the DLF Golf and Country Club has witnessed some dramatic scenes this week at the Hero Women’s Indian Open. On the opening day, Nicole Broch Larsen suffered nose bleed and had to call for medical attention before closure. The perseverance of playing on despite a bad cold paid off as she came away with a share of the lead at four-under 212 on Saturday.

The latest in the sequence of events, and which livened an otherwise dull penultimate day, was overnight leader Christine Wolf’s quadruple bogey on the final hole that left her trailing by a shot.

The Austrian finds herself in familiar territory as she forfeited the lead in 2016 to finish T11. “This course takes a lot out of you, besides I went quick with my swing on the last couple of holes,” she said on finishing fiveover off the final four holes.

While it will be revisiting the past in case Christine fails to arrest the slide; for Nicole it was treading the unknown on her maiden trip here. “It is scary to venture out with no knowledge (of the course),” she said.

The knowhow of her caddie, Chris, has come in handy, as is the decision to shift to the old putter after the opening day’s two-over 74. “I had a bad feeling with it (new putter) and went back to the old one,” said the Dane after shooting a consecutive three-under 69.

Making the switch may have aided her golf, but it was still a battle for Nicole through almost three rounds of golf. Arriving here with a bad cold, which got worse in the heat, it was a case of mind prevailing over body. Leaderboard 212: Becky Morgan (72, 72, 68); Nicole Larsen (74, 69, 69); Eleanor Givens (71, 71, 70) 213: Felicity Johnson (72, 72, 69); Manon Molle (72, 70, 71); Christine Wolf (68, 68, 77) Best Indian 216: Tvesa Malik (72, 71, 73)

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