Irving, TX - Gerina Piller will take a two shot lead into the final round of the Volunteers of America Texas Shootout Presented by JTBC.
“I felt like I gave myself opportunities,” Piller said. “Had some great shots, just couldn’t get some putts to fall. These greens are pretty tricky and they have a lot of slope to them so you definitely have to give them respect. But I don’t feel like I kind of like barely got by with eight pars, I felt like I could have been a lot lower. So definitely a lot of confidence going into tomorrow.”
Piller shot a third round 67 to get to 14-under for the week and sits two shots clear of Amy Yang and Mi Jung Hur entering Sunday’s final round at Las Colinas.
“I didn’t look at one leaderboard all day and I knew that if I played my game, I know I could make five or six birdies out there,” Piller said. “So I can’t control the outcome. For example, last week, just because I didn’t win, I still consider that a winning performance for me. I felt like I played well, I just wasn’t good enough. There’s always a coulda, shoulda, woulda, but that’s one of those things you’ve just got to go out and hit fairways and hit greens and get it close and make putts.”
Piller will get to sleep on the 54-hole lead for the second time in her career in her own bed as she lives less than half an hour away in Fort Worth.
“Yeah, I left a ton of tickets at will call for friends and family and it’s been awesome to see faces,” Piller said of the home field advantage. “I played high school golf with some of the guys that came out. People that I met UTEP El Paso that I played golf with, they’re out here. Family, people that don’t know anything about golf but they just want to support me, so it’s really cool to have them all out here and being loud and obnoxious.”
Picking up her first career win in front of her home fans would mean the world to Piller who has made 123 starts in her LPGA career.
“I mean, yeah, it would be awesome, it would be ideal. But the cool thing about it is no matter how I play tomorrow, I know that they’re going to be proud of me and we’re going to go back and hang out and they’re not going to think anything different of me, so it’s pretty cool to have that support.”
To go along with the Shootout tradition, a second cut was made with 53 players at even par 213.
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