The reigning champions will clinch an unprecedented fourth successive English title if they win their last three matches
The 16-year-old American may have seen her overnight lead of two shots on Thursday evening whittled down to just one stroke by last night, with a six-strong chasing pack bunching up ominously behind her.
However, despite admitting she might understandably be somewhat anxious ahead of this morning’s 11:30am tee-off, Thompson intends not to let any distractions get in the way of her quest for another triumph following that historic Navistar LPGA Classic victory back in September.
“I’m just playing pretty consistently,” said Thompson, who — at 10 under — is just narrowly ahead of Sophie Gustafson (nine under), Lee-Anne Pace (eight under) and Pernilla Lindberg (eight under) on the leaderboard.
“I was playing pretty well the week before this one. I was just trying to stay in control of my golf swing and play consistently going into this week, so I’m pretty happy overall. I hit it pretty well. I left a few putts out there, but there are a lot of girls in contention, so it’s going to be a great day on Saturday.
“I’m sure I’ll be a little nervous on the first tee, but who isn’t going to be? So, I’m just going to have fun and relax. I’m just going to play the golf course. I actually didn’t watch the leaderboards that much, so I’m just playing the golf course.
“I’m just going to make birdies throughout the whole day and play consistently. Pars and birdies – nothing can be better than that.”
Thompson will be donning the same blue colour that saw her prevail in Prattville, Alabama, three months ago, having opted for bright, candy floss pink on day three.
She bogeyed the first hole, before birdies on the third, 10th and 14th saw her finally make some progress in the right direction.
Another bogey immediately thereafter though somewhat halted that gradual impetus, even if a birdie on the par-five 18th was a neat way to finish off.
“I was just thinking let’s get that one back because I had an errant drive there, so I was just trying to make birdies after that,” Thompson reflected on her initial lapse on the first hole.
“I was just a lot of miss-reads. I was hitting good putts, so I just look at it that way. They were just barely miss-reads and you don’t have to be that far off to miss a putt.”
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