LAST-HOLE BIRDIE ONLY BRIGHT SPOT FOR
CATRIONA WHILE LAURA SHOOTS UP WITH 66
Catriona Matthew birdied the last - her only birdie of the third round - for a three-over-par 75 to be 73rd of the 74 qualifiers going into the final round of the J T B C Founders Cup at Wildfire Golf Club, Phoenix in Arizona.
The Scot's earlier rounds were 66 and 74. She is 15 shots off the pace.
In contrast England's Laura Davies shot a third-round 66 to move up to joint 13th on 205 - two shots ahead of compatriot Jodi Ewart Shadoff (71 for 207).
TEENAGER KO LEADS FOUNDERS CUP
WITH A ROUND TO GO AT PHOENIX
FROM THE LPGA TOUR WEBSITE
Two-time LPGA Tour winner Lydia Ko will have an opportunity
to capture her first LPGA victory as a member of the Tour on Sunday at
the JTBC Founders Cup, but the rookie will need to beat out plenty of
big names in order to do so at Wildfire Golf Club, Phoenix in Arizona
Teenage Kiwi Ko enters Sunday’s final round holding the outright lead at
16-under-par after shooting a 5-under 67 in the third round. But while
Ko holds the lead through 54 holes, there are a number of other LPGA
Tour winners within striking distance entering the final round.
“Obviously there’s going to be some nerves,” Ko said of taking the lead
into the final round. “Of course, it’s always there any time. But it’s
great that you’ve got a one‑shot lead.
“I’ve just got to take the positive out of it and I’m just going to play
my own game, if somebody goes crazy low like shooting 10‑under, 9‑under
or whatever, it’s not something I can control. So I’m going to control
to the most what I can do.”
Ten of the players in the top 12 players on the leaderboard have at
least one LPGA victory on their resume. Among those players is 2014 Pure
Silk Bahamas LPGA Classic winner Jessica Korda who sits one shot back
of Ko in a tie for second with rookie Mirim Lee.
Ko was paired with Lee in Saturday’s third round and outdueled her
fellow rookie who is playing in just her third LPGA Tour event. Ko had
struggled on the front nine throughout the week but managed to make the
turn at 3-under on Saturday. Despite a bogey on the 12th, Ko made three
more birdies on the back side en route to shooting 67.
There was plenty of low numbers to be found on “Moving Day” at the JTBC
Founders Cup on Saturday. The scoring average for the day was 69.421,
nearly a stroke lower than Friday’s average (71.392).
Cristie Kerr, who
finished right on the cut line at 2-under-par on Friday, took advantage
of the early scoring conditions. Kerr tied the tournament course record
with a 9-under 63 to jump from T67 into a tie for 12th at 11-under-par.
“I knew if I could get a low round ‑‑ they are probably going to shoot
five or six today but they might not and I’ll have a chance,” said
Kerr, who sits five shots back entering Sunday’s final round. “But I’ll
be out early enough tomorrow, that, hey, if you do this again ‑‑ I’ll
try not to have expectations. I literally just tried to play the shot
in front of me today.”
Another American used a low round to get back into contention on
Saturday. Recent HSBC Women’s Champions winner Paula Creamer fired a 64
to move into a tie for 10th at 12-under-par. Creamer is just four shots
off the lead heading into Sunday’s final round.
Defending champion Stacy Lewis sits in a tie with Creamer at
12-under-par along with fellow American Morgan Pressel. Michelle Wie is
among a group of five players at 13-under-par that includes Arizona
State alum Azahara Munoz.
THIRD-ROUND LEADERBOARD
Par 216 (3x72) Players from USA unless stated
200 Lydia Ko (NZ) 67 66 67
201 Jessica Korda 69 66 66, Mirim Lee (S Korea) 64 67 70
202 Sun Young Yoo (S Korea) 69 65 68
203 Azahara Munoz (Spain) 68 71 64, Amy Yang (S Korea) 67 69 67, Michelle Wie 66 70 67, Chella Choi (S Korea) 69 66 68, So Yeon Ryu (S Korea) 68 67 68
204 Paula Creamer 70 70 64, Stacy Lewis 66 71 67, Morgan Pressel 75 72 67
SELECTED SCORES
205 Laura Davies (England) 68 71 66 (T13)
207 Jodi Ewart Shadoff (England) 67 69 71
210 Suzann Pettersen (Norway) 68 72 70 (t42)
212 Becky Morgan (Wales) 73 66 73 (T61)
215 Catriona Matthew (Scotland) 66 74 75 (73rd)