Charley Hull 'inspiring young girls' as she chases maiden major win in AIG Women's Open

It’s Charley Hull’s date with destiny. After a third-round 68 - she birdied three of the last four holes - the English player shares the lead heading into the final round of the $9 million AIG Women’s Open at Walton Heath

Home favourite Charley Hull laughs during the AIG Women's Open at Walton Heath in Tadworth. Picture: Chloe Knott/R&A/R&A via Getty Images.

Hull has long been tipped to become a major winner, but has seen one of her compatriots, Georgia Hall, beat her to the punch. This, though, could be Hull’s big chance and she’d be a hugely popular winner close to home for the Kettering woman.

On nine-under, the 27-year-old is tied for spot with American Lilia Vu (67), with her compatriot Angel Yin (67) and Korean Hyo Joo Kim (68) one behind while five-shot halfway leader Ally Ewing sits one further back after struggling to a 75. "I felt really solid out there today,” said Hull. “I’m just enjoying it. I’m inspiring young girls and that’s pretty cool.”

In a sign that she was feeling nervous after having had a lot of time to dwell on her big lead since finishing the second round on Friday, Ewing went to peg her ball up when playing partner Andrea Lee was announced on the tee in the final group.

That brought a smile to the halfway leader’s face, but it wasn’t there for long as she three–putted the first, pushing a short one to save par then did exactly the same at the fifth then again at the sixth as the chasing pack were handed the encouragement they’d been looking for.

Vu made a move with a burst of three birdies in a row from the fifth before she then started for home with back-to-back gains. The latter came just as Ewing picked up first birdie of the day at the tenth before getting her nose back in front when, as she started to find the centre of the hole again, another short birdie putt dropped at the par-5 11th.

However, three bogeys and one birdie over the closing stretch from Ewing coincided with Hull’s strong finish and, with all due respect to the others still in contention, there’s no denying who the home fans want to see come out on top in the closing circuit at the Surrey venue.

Earlier, world No 1 Nelly Korda jumped into the top ten on the back of a 69 that was a mixed bag, containing an eagle and five birdies but also four bogeys, including one to finish.

“Tee-to-green really well,” said the American of her day’s work. “Putting, I'd probably give myself a D. I started off pretty well and then on the back nine, I just kind of started making more mistakes with the short stick.”

Her eagle at the 11 was a chip in that rattled the flagstick. “I moved up on moving day, and conditions were tough and I'll take that,” she added of giving herself a chance to land a second major win.

Scottish No 1 Gemma Dryburgh is sitting inside the top 30 heading into the final day after maintaining her solid week’s work with a 71 that contained 16 pars, the only deviations being a bogey at the third and a birdie at the tenth.

“Very solid today,” she said, having completed a full set of successful cuts in the five majors this season. “It was very wind out there, club and a club and a half sometimes, quite gusty. Even the side winds were hard to determine if it was down or just across.”

Having enjoyed being in the company of Leona Maguire for the penultimate circuit, Dryburgh is hoping to join the Irish player in Suzann Pettersen’s European side for next month’s Solheim Cup at Finca Cortesin in Spain.

“We did chat a little about it but can't share it here obviously,” said Dryburgh, smiling. “Yeah, it's obviously been in the back of my mind pretty much all year. Been trying to ignore it and play my own game. It's obviously coming up pretty soon, so pretty exciting.”