June 11, 2009

HARLECH, Wales -- Rising sophomore Nathalie Mansson collected a pair of victories on Thursday to advance to the third round of the match play stage at the Ladies British Open Amateur Championship.

In her first round match, Mansson, the 38th-seed of the tournament, picked up a 1-up victory over No. 27-seed Marieke Nivard, of the Netherlands, at the Royal St. David's Golf Club.

The Stockholm, Sweden, native's route to the third round was much easier as Mansson defeated No. 59-seed Nicola Rossler, of Germany, 6 and 4.

She will play 43rd-seed Marion Ricordeau in the round of 16 on Friday morning for the right to advance to that afternoon's quarterfinals.

The semifinals and finals will be played on Saturday.

Rising senior Diana Cantú, the 54th-seed, was edged by England's Jodi Ewart, the No. 10-seed, 1-up during her first round match Thursday morning.

Mansson and Cantú both advanced to the 64-player match play round of the championship after tying for 34th and 47th, respectively, during 36-hole qualifying on Tuesday and Wednesday.

Mansson carded a 76-75=151 (+5) total in the qualifying rounds, while Cantú, of Monterrey, Mexico, finished with a qualifying score of 77-76=153 (+7).

Rising junior Rebecca Watson, of Edinburgh, Scotland, also competed at the tournament, tying for 120th with an 83-81=164 (+18) total after the qualifying stage.

Results and further information on the 2009 Ladies British Open Amateur Championship can be found at http://www.lgu.org/.