Golf: Brooky breaks record for lead in Spain

New Zealand golfer Lynnette Brooky broke her own course record with a seven-under third round of 65 to regain the lead at the Ladies European Tour Spanish Open in Castellon yesterday.

It gave Brooky a three-shot cushion over Frenchwoman Gwladys Nocera, who had led by five shots at the halfway point.

Brooky shot seven birdies, five of them on the front nine, to break the course record of 66 she set in the opening round and move to an 11-under total of 205.

Nocera carded a 73 for an eight-under total of 208, one shot clear of Switzerland's Nora Angehrn, who climbed up the leaderboard with a third-round 66.

Brooky is shooting for her fourth Tour win after winning the 1998 Austrian Open, as well as back-to-back French Open titles in 2002 and 2003.

That would secure her place in the prestigious Evian Masters in July.

"A win here would mean a lot to me. I need to win before Evian, otherwise we don't play, so that's the whole guts of what I've been thinking," she told the Ladies Tour website.

Brooky had a lesson from her new coach, Di Barnard, before yesterday's round.

"She's got me back in there and I'm playing much stronger and more aggressively now," she said.

- NZPA