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Lee-Anne four off the pace

Durban - South Africa's Lee-Anne Pace is four strokes off the lead going into Sunday's final round of the South African Women's Open at San Lameer Country Club in KwaZulu Natal.

On the first full day of clear weather in this 54-hole tournament, Pace signed for a 73 to put her at level par for the tournament on Saturday. Germany's Leigh Whittaker heads the field on four under following a career best 67 in perfect conditions on Saturday afternoon. She is one stroke clear of England's Holly Clyburn and Germany's Ann-Kathrin Lindner.

"I'm feeling good. I'm hitting the ball fantastically well. I just need to make some birdies now," said Pace, who is seeking to become the first South African winner of this championship since 2009.

While not entirely satisfied with her round, Pace was pleased to finally get an uninterrupted round under her belt.

"I'm not quite happy with 73. I didn't hit it as close as I wanted to. I hit some great shots but didn't get the results. But it was nice to get in a full round today. It helps to get a bit of momentum going. I'm hitting it so well, but with the two suspensions we've had it felt like you're being pulled back a bit."

At the top of the leaderboard, Whittaker is seeking to become the second German winner of the SA Women's Open in the last three years following Caroline Masson's triumph at Selborne Park Golf Club in 2012.

"It was a fun day. For the last few holes I had no idea where I was lying, I was just playing shot for shot. This is the best round of my professional career, and I'm just going to keep doing what I'm doing and keep it simple," said Whittaker.

"The delays actually helped because I have some shoulder issues, so the breaks were good."

Overnight leader Charley Hull was given a two-stroke penalty that saw her finish the day on two under and with a 74.

On the par-three 16th green, Hull addressed her putt and then the putter slipped out of her hand, moving her golf ball. That was already a one-stroke penalty. But Hull played the ball from its new position, and that earned her another penalty stroke.

"It's disappointing, but that's golf I suppose," said Hull.

"I'm not too fazed by it because I can't do too much about. I think I played pretty well out there overall. On the final day I can still make plenty of birdies, so I'll be fine." she said, having responded to her penalty with birdies at 17 and 18.

Second round scores from the SA Women's Open, at the par-72 San Lameer Country Club in KwaZulu-Natal on Saturday. All players RSA unless otherwise specified and amateurs indicated as (AMA).

Scores:

140 Leigh Whittaker GER 73 67
141 Holly Clyburn ENG 71 70; Ann-Kathrin Lindner GER 70 71
142 Charley Hull ENG 68 74; Fabienne In-Albon SUI 70 72
143 Gwladys Nocera FRA 73 70; Valentine Derrey FRA 70 73; Sophie Giquel-Bettan FRA 72 71
144 Lee-Anne Pace 71 73; Julia Davidsson SWE 74 70; Nina Holleder GER 72 72
145 Malene Jorgensen DEN 75 70; Georgina Simpson ENG 73 72; Rebecca Hudson ENG 69 76
146 Chloe Leurquin BEL 75 71; Alexandra Vilatte FRA 77 69; Minea Blomqvist FIN 74 72; Steffi Kirchmayr GER 69 77; Florentyna Parker ENG 72 74
147 Ainil Bakar MYS 74 73; Trish Johnson ENG 74 73; Whitney Hillier AUS 76 71; Cathryn Bristow NZL 75 72
148 Lucie Andre FRA 72 76; Maha Haddioui MAR 73 75; Lucy Williams ENG 73 75; Sahra Hassan WAL 72 76; Katie Burnett USA 77 71; Connie Chen 73 75; Caroline Martens NOR 73 75; Mathilda Cappeliez FRA (AMA) 75 73
149 Kim Williams 75 74; Stacy-Lee Bregman 75 74; Sophie Walker ENG 79 70; Amy Boulden WAL 77 72; Christine Wolf AUT 74 75; Nobuhle Dlamini SWZ 73 76; Nicole Broch Larsen DEN 75 74; Lydia Hall WAL 74 75
150 Isabelle Boineau FRA 74 76; Kelsey Macdonald SCO 77 73; Sophia Popov GER 71 79; Melissa Eaton 70 80; Ashleigh Simon 79 71
151 Isabell Gabsa GER 77 74; Hannah Jun Medlock USA 77 74; Marianne Skarpnord NOR 77 74; Eleanor Givens ENG 75 76; Sally Watson SCO 73 78; Rebecca Codd IRL 74 77; Melissa Reid ENG 76 75; Celine Herbin FRA 73 78; Josephine Janson SWE 77 74; Paula Reto 81 70; Anais Maggetti SUI 77 74
152 Holly Aitchison ENG 81 71; Cheyenne Woods USA 76 76; Marion Ricordeau FRA 78 74
153 Becky Brewerton WAL 77 76; Elina Nummenpaa FIN 75 78; Shawnelle de Lange (AMA) 76 77; Rebecca Sorensen SWE 77 76

Missed Cut:

154 Louise Larsson SWE 81 73; Mireia Prat ESP 79 75; Hannah Burke ENG 78 76; Beth Allen USA 74 80; Tandi von Ruben 80 74; Lauren Taylor ENG 79 75; Nina Muehl AUT 77 77
155 Laurette Maritz 76 79; Natasha Carlsson (AMA) 79 76; Victoria Lovelady BRA 81 74; Pamela Pretswell SCO 80 75; Kaleigh Telfer 78 77 (AMA); Patricia Sanz Barrio ESP 70 85; Alison Whitaker AUS 80 75; Monique Smit 77 78
156 Cecilie Lundgreen NOR 80 76; Tiffany Avern-Taplin (AMA) 78 78; Kylie Walker SCO 78 78; Fiona Puyo FRA 79 77
157 Nicole Garcia 75 82; Katy McNicoll SCO 78 79
159 Carly Booth SCO 78 81; Monja Richards (AMA) 80 79; Bonita Bredenhann NAM 82 77; Bree Arthur AUS 80 79
160 Heather Macrae SCO 81 79; Julie Tvede DEN 83 77; Eleonora Galletti (AMA) 79 81; Michele Thomson SCO 83 77; Anne-Lise Caudal FRA 83 77
161 Carrie Park KOR (AMA) 79 82; Magda Kruger (AMA) 85 76; Charlotte Thompson ENG 83 78
162 Ariane Provot FRA 80 82; Virginia Espejo ESP 79 83; Henni Zuel ENG 85 77; Krista Bakker FIN 83 79
163 Cherry Moulder 78 85; Lizzie Currie (AMA) 83 80; Alana Van Greuning 81 82
164 Michelle Swanepoel (AMA) 84 80; Viva Schlasberg SWE 85 79
165 Ivanna Samu (AMA) 82 83
166 Crystal Cooper (AMA) 85 81
167 Michelle Leigh 81 86; Francesca Cuturi 85 82; Betty Mokoena 84 83
168 Anna Becker-Frankel 85 83

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