Kelsey MacDonald hails 'best match-play victory'

SCOTTISH champion Kelsey MacDonald scored "the best match-play win" of her career yesterday to enter the last 16 of the British Women's Open Amateur Championship at Ganton.

Later in the evening, 18-year-old Sally Watson made it two Scots in the third round with a three-under-par performance.

MacDonald, a 19-year-old Stirling University student from Nairn, beat Spain's Carlota Ciganda by one hole in a match of rare quality.

The performance capped a brilliant day for MacDonald. She touched the heights in beating the experienced German player, Pia Halbig, 3 and 2 with six-under-par figures.

"I was five under par for the first nine holes in the morning but when I started bogey-bogey to lose the first two holes to Carlota in the afternoon, I thought I had used up all my luck and good golf," said the Scot, who fought back to square it before hitting a splendid 5-iron tee shot at the short 17th to go one up and two-putted for a par-4 at the last to go through. She now plays another Spaniard, Adriana Zwanck who got the better of Alford's Laura Murray by one hole.

Watson, showing no signs of her Curtis Cup exertions, had a good morning win over Nikki Foster (Pleasington), one of the most successful English players of the early open tournaments.

Then Watson, who has already qualified to play in the US Women's Open, then stepped up a gear with three-under-par figures to beat France's Justine Dreher.

Watson's third-round opponent is another youngster, Junior Ryder Cup player Kelly Tidy (Royal Birkdale).