Friday's third round at Le Golf National was a true test for the Epson Tour athletes, with only two under-par rounds from the resilient Colombian Mariajo Uribe and the determined Filipino Dottie Ardina.
Ardina had the Epson Tour round of the day, signing for a 3-under 69 that consisted of an eagle, four birdies, a bogey and a double bogey. The 30-year-old is 1-over for the tournament and, despite moving up 14 spots on the leaderboard, has some work to do on Saturday.
Uribe's 1-under 71 consisted of three birdies and two bogeys, and although the 34-year-old kept her under-par streak going on day three, she moved two spots down the leaderboard. Sitting in sixth at 5-under, Uribe is still in contention to be on the podium on Saturday. The Colombia native is two shots back from a bronze medal and has been playing aggressively to give herself the best shot at earning it. With only 18 holes left to play before retirement, the LPGA Tour veteran is leaving it all on the course and hopes to put on one final show.
"It's an aggressive week. It's third or nothing, really," said Uribe. "Fourth place means nothing this week. That's why I've been hitting a lot of drivers and playing aggressive, and it's the kind of play that I like, and the course sets up for it. It can go really good or really bad. That's just how it goes this week. It's going to be exciting, and hopefully, we put on a good show tomorrow."
Here's how all of the Epson Tour athletes finished after three days of play:
- Mariajo Uribe (-5, 6th)
- Dottie Ardina (+1, 23rd)
- Diksha Dagar (+7, T42)
- Alena Sharp (+8, T44)
- Ana Belac (+9, T46)
- Ashley Lau (+12, T52)
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