Sung Hyun Park gunning for two in a row
Last week at the U.S. Women’s Open it was Sung Hyun Park who captured the biggest title in women’s golf, and notched her fifth top-5 finish of the season in the process.
This week in Ohio, she’s looking to make it a double, as she sits just two shots back of the lead heading into Sunday at the Marathon Classic.
After firing a 4-under-par 67, she said her approach shots were key Saturday, and she admitted she tried to bring the good momentum from the U.S. Women’s Open into the Marathon Classic, and so far, so good.
“I think I brought a good memory back from the U.S. Women's Open into the Marathon Classic and (have kept) that consistent with me,” she explained. “I hope I can do my second win in Marathon Classic as well.”
Piller praises Korda
Saturday marked the first time in her career that Gerina Piller held a 36-hole lead on the LPGA Tour, and although she was steady on Saturday firing a 1-under-par 70, she’ll head into Sunday’s final round four shots back of the lead held by Nelly Korda.
But, Piller said she’ll stick to the same approach for Sunday.
“You know, there's no need to fix something that ain't broke,” she said. “The putts just didn't fall for me today, but my game feels great. Got it back to under par, which was huge, after being 1-over at the turn. Just looking forward to tomorrow, having some fun, and making some birdies.”
Piller explained the golf course was playing much different than it had the first two days, as it was much more receptive during Saturday’s third round.
“The conditions were definitely different,” she said. “The course is playing softer, and the wind direction was different, made us choose different clubs off of tee boxes.”
The 32-year-old stated that in order to catch Korda on Sunday it will take ‘lots of birdies,’ but admitted she was impressed by Korda – who is almost 15 years younger – and her game.
“She's good. I mean, leading an LPGA tournament rookie season, that's pretty impressive,” said Piller of Korda. “She's got a really good game. Her and her sister both have really good swings. The future is looking bright for American golf.”
Brittany Lincicome looking for her second win of 2017
After a 3-under-par 68 Saturday, Brittany Lincicome is only three shots back of the lead, and is gunning for her second win of 2017, which would all but lock up a spot on the Solheim Cup team for her.
Lincicome, who hit 17 of 18 greens on the day, admitted she didn’t make as many birdies as she would have liked considering her positioning off the tee, but she said it was a ‘very easy and steady’ round. She made her three birdies on the back nine, after going 12-straight holes with pars.
“I’m just driving it well. There's a lot of kind of dogleg holes out there where you have to kind of feed it around some stuff, and if I just keep driving it well and making a few putts here and there, I think I'll be pretty good tomorrow,” she explained.
Lincicome has been staying in the same house during tournament week for the last 11 years, so she said she has a high level of comfort during this event, something that’s been beneficial for her so far.
“I have wonderful housing this week. I've been in the same housing for 11 years, and we've just been cooking every night and we played Scrabble a couple nights ago, so I think just having a super laid-back kind of week just kind of frees me up to play some good golf,” she explained.
Aditi Ashok continuing her strong play
Although Aditi Ashok has played only two prior tournaments on the LPGA Tour so far in 2017, she’s certainly making the most of this week in Ohio, as she sits just three shots back of the lead held by Nelly Korda heading into Sunday, and sits tied for third.
Ashok was even par on her front nine Saturday before making three birdies on her back nine to fire a 3-under-par 68 and move from sixth to T3. She credits her approach around the greens as the key to her fine play this week.
“The greens are smaller here, so I've just been focusing on hitting more greens because if you hit the green here you pretty much have a makeable birdie putt, so I've been focusing on that as opposed to attacking the pins, which I usually do sometimes, and I leave myself short-sided,” she said. “I've also been putting well, so that's what's worked.”
Ashok is hoping her experience from the Ladies European Tour – where she has already won – will help her during Sunday’s finale at the Marathon Classic.
“This is my first time being in contention on the LPGA, but I'm assuming it's pretty much the same every tournament you're in contention. I've won a couple times on the European Tour, so I'm going to hope that experience helps tomorrow,” she said. “ It will be a good experience, obviously. I've played well this season, but not as well as I would have wanted to, so to be in one of the last few groups on Sunday would be good, and I'm looking forward to it.”
Sandra Changkija matches Lydia Ko for low round of Saturday
Although it hasn’t been the best season so far on the LPGA Tour for Sandra Changkija, she’s looking to make a big splash Sunday at the Marathon Classic after tying with defending champion Lydia Ko for the low round of Saturday, a 6-under-par 65, which moved her to a tie for third, and just two shots back of Nelly Korda heading into Sunday.
Changkija said her putting was the key to her success Saturday and said she felt ‘great’ after her round.
Changkija has missed four of her last six cuts, but her 65 – her second-best round of 2017 – was hopefully a harbinger of good news to come during Sunday’s finale.
“I like being in contention, it feels good,” she said. “I’m probably excited, a little bit nervous (for tomorrow). If you're not nervous, I think you probably just don't care, so yeah, there are a little bit of nerves, but I'm looking forward to it.”
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