Park maintains lead in Canada
2008 US Women’s Open champion Inbee Park is in position to claim her first victory in nearly four years with a two-shot lead entering the final round of the inaugural Manulife Financial LPGA Classic in Ontario, Canada.
Park fired a third-round 66 at the Grey Silo Golf Course in Waterloo, and sits at 14-under-par 199, two shots ahead of Hee Kyung Seo and Brittany Lang.
Park's round, which included six birdies, was nearly flawless aside from a bogey at the 17th hole.
“I hit the ball very good today, I hit a lot of good iron shots, and I think I played par 5s really good today; that helped me a lot,” said Park.
“There was some more putts out there that I could have made, but I was really happy with the way I hit the ball today and hopefully tomorrow it will be a better putting day.”
Lang, who is seeking her first victory on the LPGA Tour, recorded 15 pars before going 4-under-par through her final three holes with birdies at 16 and 17 and an eagle at 18, where she knocked her second shot inside five feet.
“I hit some good putts and some good shots and I just couldn't get anything going,” said Lang, a two-time member of the US Solheim Cup Team (2009, 2011).
“But I stayed patient and positive and finally made the birdie on 16 and got some energy and hit a great shot into 17. That was a great – and even that, it's tricky to read the greens out here.
"You can hit good putts and not make them, but I stayed positive and just hit two awesome shots on 18. I’m very happy with that finish.”
Seo also shot a second-round 67. The 25-year-old South Korean fired five birdies and had just the one bogey, at the 8th.
Playing in just her second tournament of the 2012 season, Nicole Hage finds herself in unfamiliar territory, in joint fifth on the leaderboard at 9-under-par 204.
The 26-year-old Floridian recorded an eagle on the 18th hole to complete a round of 67.
On paper, Stacy Lewis was the favorite entering this week’s tournament. In the last four tournaments, the 27-year-old has posted two victories (Mobile Bay LPGA Classic, ShopRite LPGA Classic), a tie for fifth (Sybase Match Play Championship) and a tie for second at the Wegmans LPGA Championship.
The No 2 player on the Rolex Women’s World Golf Rankings is six shots off the lead with 18 holes to play.
Lewis started the week slow with a 1-over-par 72 on Thursday, but went low on Friday, posting a 7-under-par 64. She added a 2-under-par 69 on Saturday to give herself an outside chance at her third win in the last six events.
Information courtesy www.lpga.com
LEADING THIRD-ROUND SCORES
199 – Inbee Park 69 64 66
201 – Brittany Lang 69 65 67, Hee Kyung Seo 66 68 67
203 – Anna Nordqvist 64 72 67
204 – Nicole Hage 72 65 67, Karin Sjodin 67 68 69, Sandra Changkija 63 72 69, Shanshan Feng 66 68 70
205 – Mi Jung Hur 69 68 68, Stacy Lewis 72 64 69, Chella Choi 69 66 70, So Yeon Ryu 70 65 70, Lexi Thompson 66 69 70
206 – Karine Icher 72 68 66, Jennifer Song 71 67 68, Amy Yang 68 70 68
207 – Jeong Jang 70 68 69, Katie Futcher 68 67 72, Sun Young Yoo 68 67 72
208 – Christel Boeljon 71 68 69, Jacqui Concolino 69 70 69, Jin Young Pak 69 70 69, Paula Creamer 69 68 71, Kris Tamulis 70 67 71, Jodi Ewart 68 68 72
209 – Mina Harigae 72 70 67, Maude-Aimee Leblanc 73 68 68, Sandra Gal 72 68 69, Candie Kung 68 72 69, Min Seo Kwak 68 72 69, I.K. Kim 70 69 70, Jennifer Johnson 69 69 71, Angela Stanford 67 71 71, Suzann Pettersen 67 70 72
210 – Kristy Mcpherson 70 72 68, Anna Grzebien 70 71 69, Hee Young Park 71 69 70
211 – Danielle Kang 69 73 69, Reilley Rankin 70 72 69, Ayaka Kaneko 73 68 70, Heather Bowie Young 72 69 70, Jennie Lee 72 69 70, Beatriz Recari 70 70 71, Laura Diaz 69 70 72, Karen Stupples 70 68 73, Seon Hwa Lee 68 70 73
212 – Victoria Tanco 76 65 71, Pornanong Phatlum 71 70 71, Mindy Kim 68 73 71, Karrie Webb 75 65 72, Vicky Hurst 74 66 72
213 – Leta Lindley 75 68 70, Belen Mozo 73 70 70, Sarah Jane Smith 70 73 70, Julieta Granada 70 72 71, Morgan Pressel 70 71 72, Momoko Ueda 68 73 72, Michelle Wie 70 70 73, Jenny Suh 69 70 74
