Valerie Hassett will recall how a brilliant recovery from a seemingly hopeless position won her the British Senior Women's Open amateur championship in Wales a year ago when she goes into action in the third and final round of the 1997 event at Frilford Heath in Oxfordshire today.

Last October, she was ten strokes behind Angela Uzielli, with 15 holes to play, but produced magic to grab the crown by a stroke and she faces a similar task today in her attempt to retain the title.

The Ennis player goes into the last round some nine strokes behind the leader, Toni Wiesner, a left-hander from Texas. "I did not think it was possible last year, but I now know anything in golf is possible although I am aware that Toni is a class act and is going to be extremely difficult," said Hassett, who knows that, whatever happens, she has put up a stout defence of her coveted crown.

Yesterday, she made some miraculous saves and said after an 81: "I did not have any birdies but there were no real disasters in my round either, although I did make a few errors of judgment."

Irish Scores - 160 - V Hassett (Ennis) 79, 81. 170 - G Costello (Milltown) 81, 89, S Casey (USA/Cork) 84, 86.