Catriona Matthew in top eight with a round to go

Gerina Piller holds 54-hole lead as she 

chases first LPGA win

GOLFWEEK.COM

By Kevin Casey

Gerina Piller in action at the 2016 Volunteers of America Texas Shootout (Getty Images)

US Solheim Cup player Gerina Piller’s quest for her first LPGA win continued on Saturday at the Volunteers of America Texas Shootout.
For the third straight day, scoreable conditions emerged at Las Colinas Country Club, and for the third straight day, Piller posted a 67 or better. The American fired that round exactly, a bogey-free four-under score to reach out to 14 under overall and double her lead to two.
Piller, whose husband Martin plays on the US PGA Tour, began the day one ahead of Eun-Hee Ji, who fell five back after a third-round 71. 
A weather delay late Friday suspended second-round action before it could finish, but Amy Yang was undeterred. Six under at the time play ended Friday, Yang played the final seven holes of her second round in 1 under and posted a bogey-free 65 on Saturday to move to 12 under and a share of second.
Mi Jung Hur played her final six holes of her second round in 1 over (thanks to a closing double bogey) but rebounded with a flawless 66 that also boosted her to a share of second.
Sei Young Kim (68) and Jenny Shin (65) share fourth at 10 under, with Shanshan Feng (65) solo seventh at 7 under.
Piller came into this week playing some of the best golf of her career. The 31-year-old has never won on the LPGA but had pieced together 22 top-10s on the circuit, which she joined in 2010, before 2016. 
But the last two months have seen scorching hot play, as Piller has posted four top-10s in her last five starts. That includes a tie for third at last week’s Swinging Skirts LPGA Classic. And she’s now ranked 20th in the Rolex Rankings.
The win hasn’t come yet, but Piller now boasts a two-shot 54-hole lead. She has gone a remarkable 53 straight holes without bogey this week, as the only square came on her first hole of the tournament in Irving, Texas.
Catriona Matthew from North Berwick is the leading British player on T8 with scores of 68 70 68 for 206
A few young guns are in position for a good finish. England's Charley Hull sits at 5 under (T-10), while Canadian-Scot Brooke Mackenzie Henderson is 3 under and in a tie for 19th. 
Cheyenne Knight, an Alabama freshman, is making her LPGA debut this week and is 2 under and tied for 26th through 54 holes.


THIRD-ROUND SCOREBOARD

1	Gerina Piller	67	65	67					199
T2	Mi Jung Hur	66	69	66					201
T2	Amy Yang	68	68	65					201
T4	Sei Young Kim	68	67	68					203
T4	Jenny Shin	68	70	65					203
T6	Eun-Hee Ji	67	66	71					204
T6	Ariya Jutanugarn	69	66	69					204
T8	Catriona Matthew	68	70	68					206
T8	Shanshan Feng	72	69	65					206
T10	Karine Icher	71	67	70					208
T10	Jacqui Concolino	69	70	69					208
T10	Cristie Kerr	72	67	69					208
T10	Charley Hull	71	69	68					208
T10	So Yeon Ryu	67	73	68					208
T10	Mirim Lee	70	71	67					208
T16	Dori Carter	71	69	69					209
T16	Candie Kung	71	67	71					209
T16	Na Yeon Choi	74	67	68					209
T19	Brooke Henderson	69	68	73					210
T19	Carlota Ciganda	69	72	69					210
T19	Belen Mozo	70	69	71					210
T19	Marina Alex	70	72	68					210
T19	Angela Stanford	70	71	69					210
T19	Paula Reto	73	69	68					210
T19	Sarah Jane Smith	72	71	67					210
T26	Nannette Hill	70	68	73					211
T26	Danielle Kang	69	70	72					211
T26	Cheyenne Knight	70	69	72					211
T26	Min Seo Kwak	70	69	72					211
T26	Giulia Molinaro	70	70	71					211
T26	Annie Park	70	70	71					211
T26	Wei-Ling Hsu	71	69	71					211
T26	Ashleigh Simon	71	69	71					211
T26	Simin Feng	71	70	70					211
T26	Morgan Pressel	70	71	70					211
T26	Moriya Jutanugarn	75	68	68					211
T26	Briana Mao	74	69	68					211
T26	Stacy Lewis	74	70	67					211
T39	Lee Lopez	71	69	72					212
T39	Becky Morgan	73	68	71					212
T39	Brittany Altomare	74	67	71					212
T39	In Gee Chun	69	73	70					212
T39	Christel Boeljon	74	68	70					212
T39	Anna Nordqvist	73	69	70					212
T45	Casey Grice	69	69	75					213
T45	Jodi Ewart Shadoff	69	70	74					213
T45	Benyapa Niphatsophon	70	71	72					213
T45	Mo Martin	72	70	71					213
T45	Lee-Anne Pace	72	69	72					213
T45	Gaby Lopez	72	71	70					213
T45	Karah Sanford	73	69	71					213
T45	Katie Burnett	74	70	69					213
T45	Kelly Shon	74	69	70					213
T54	Ssu-Chia Cheng	77	67	70	MDF	-	-	-	214
T54	Haeji Kang	71	71	72	MDF	-	-	-	214
T54	Azahara Munoz	75	67	72	MDF	-	-	-	214
T54	Hee Young Park	74	69	71	MDF	-	-	-	214
T54	Sadena Parks	73	68	73	MDF	-	-	-	214
T54	Ayako Uehara	70	71	73	MDF	-	-	-	214
T54	Mariajo Uribe	73	71	70	MDF	-	-	-	214
T54	Alison Walshe	69	72	73	MDF	-	-	-	214
T54	Jing Yan	73	70	71	MDF	-	-	-	214
T63	Sandra Gal	75	69	71	MDF	-	-	-	215
T63	Jennifer Johnson	72	72	71	MDF	-	-	-	215
T63	I.K. Kim	74	69	72	MDF	-	-	-	215
T63	Katherine Kirk	76	68	71	MDF	-	-	-	215
T67	Q Baek	73	71	72	MDF	-	-	-	216
T67	Celine Herbin	72	69	75	MDF	-	-	-	216
T67	Dani Holmqvist	71	73	72	MDF	-	-	-	216
T67	Tiffany Joh	73	71	72	MDF	-	-	-	216
T67	Joanna Klatten	71	73	72	MDF	-	-	-	216
T67	Ilhee Lee	71	73	72	MDF	-	-	-	216
T67	Caroline Masson	70	73	73	MDF	-	-	-	216
T67	Erica Popson	74	65	77	MDF	-	-	-	216
T67	Cheyenne Woods	76	67	73	MDF	-	-	-	216
T76	Laura Davies	74	70	73	MDF	-	-	-	217
T76	Min Lee	75	69	73	MDF	-	-	-	217
T76	Sydnee Michaels	74	69	74	MDF	-	-	-	217
T79	Christina Kim	73	71	74	MDF	-	-	-	218
T79	Mi Hyang Lee	74	70	74	MDF	-	-	-	218
T79	Ryann O'Toole	70	71	77	MDF	-	-	-	218
T79	Maddie Szeryk	73	70	75	MDF	-	-	-	218