WORLD No.3 Karrie Webb is on track for her seventh Ladies Masters after earning a three-way share of the lead.
The 33-year-old Queenslander leapt into contention to successfully defend her title, advancing from equal 12th position Friday to a three-way tie for first after round two at Royal Pines.
Mentally flat after her come-from-behind win at the Australian Open in Melbourne last week, Webb said it was an effort staying focused.
"I think I’ve done a pretty good job, I’ve switched off a couple of times which I sort of get on myself about,” Webb said.
"But again I think the penalty for switching off here is a lot less than it was at Kingston Heath (in Melbourne).
"There’s no excuse for switching off and I definitely can’t do that tomorrow (Sunday)."
Although happy with her position at the top of the leaderboard heading into the final day of the $600,000 tournament, Webb said there were still more problems to overcome.
"I didn’t feel very comfortable with my drive, that needs to be better," she said.
"This is a course where you can get away with driving poorly, which I clearly have in the last two days, (so) I’d like to tighten that up."
Webb said she hadn’t experienced such tricky winds in 16 years playing on the course.
"The wind picked up quite a bit on the back nine and even though I’ve played here as many years as I have, I haven’t played that wind very often at all," Webb said.
"It was a little tricky."
Webb has also labelled Tamie Durdin the “biggest underachiever” in Australian golf as the pair head into the final round.
“I think Tamie is probably the biggest underachiever, Australian-player wise,” Webb said.
“She’s got more talent in her little toe than probably 90 per cent of the players in the field this week.
“It’s such a fine line between having a lot of success and struggling.
“It’s very hard to pinpoint, especially when she hits the ball as well as she does.”
The talented Durdin fired a five-under par 67 in the second round at Royal Pines to set the pace for the rest of the field.
Durdin said she’d be a “millionaire right now” if she could collect a dollar for every time someone labelled her an underachiever.
Durdin, who played 26 events in Japan last year, hasn’t won a tournament since 2000 when she made her professional debut.
But Webb, who made par-saving putts on the 16th and 17th holes today, rated Durdin a huge threat heading into Sunday’s final round.
“I would see her feeling pretty confident tomorrow,” said the 33-year-old Australian Open champion.
“This course would suit her game and she hits the ball a mile.
“She’ll definitely be someone to watch.”
Adelaide-born Durdin knows it’ll take more than skill and finesse to steal Webb’s crown after the tournament was reduced to 54 holes following heavy rain on the Gold Coast this week.
“I’ve had trust and belief issues before and I have then obviously failed at the finish line,” Durdin said.
“It’s really a matter of me trusting what I am doing. At the moment I feel like I’m really comfortable out there and I’m hitting a lot of quality shots.”
Durdin has been working with world-renowned sports psychologist Noel Blundell and mentor Ian Triggs, who also coaches Webb, to help bury her self-doubt.
“It is very frustrating because I’m one of the top five ball-strikers in the world, that’s what Ian tells me anyway,” said Durdin, whose only blemish today was a double-bogey on the par-four fourth.
“I think I’ve got all the tools there. It’s just a case of actually putting myself on the line … and really trying to get comfortable with being uncomfortable.
“I reckon that elusive first (big) win will come this year.”
Nikki Garrett, who blew an overnight lead of five-under to finish the day in joint 21st, said she was still counting on her best-ever finish.
"It’s so close on the leaderboard, anyone can win," Garrett said.
There are so many birdies out there, you get your putter rolling and anything can happen."
AAP
Source: Webb chases seventh victory
