Players to Watch
*All tee times are local
Katherine Kirk (-5), Felicity Johnson (-6), Alison Lee (-6)
12:40 p.m. – Beach Course
In one of the final groups of the day, this trio has some work to do, but is still very much within striking distance of the lead on moving day. Katherine Kirk followed her opening round 72 on the Creek Course with a 68 on the Beach Course to jump into contention. The Aussie, who begins the third round 8-back of the lead, knows what it takes to go low to win. She posted a 63 en route to her most recent win on Tour at the 2017 Thornberry Creek LPGA Classic. She’s grouped on moving day with first round leader Felicity Johnson and Alison Lee. Johnson cruised to a 65 at the Creek Course on day one to take the outright lead, but struggled to a 74 on the Beach Course on day two. She sits 7-back heading into the weekend. A reinvigorated Lee, who struggled over the last year, recorded back-to-back sub-par rounds with a 68 on the Creek Course and 71 on the Beach Course to also sit 7-back heading into the third round.
Alena Sharp (-7), Karrie Webb (-7), Charlotte Thomas (-9)
1:20 p.m. – Beach Course
Canada’s Alena Sharp got off to a hot start in her first start of the season. She opened with back-to-back rounds of 69, including an eagle at the par four, 1st hole on Friday to climb within 6-strokes of the lead entering the weekend. On moving day she’s grouped with Hall of Famer Karrie Webb and rookie Charlotte Thomas. Webb surged to the top of the leaderboard on Friday with a bogey-free, 7-under par 65 on the Beach Course. She sits 6-back of the lead in her home country of Australia. Thomas is off to a great start in her LPGA Tour debut after back–to-back rounds of 68. The rookie sits just 4-back of the lead heading into the weekend.
Su Oh (-10), Haru Nomura (-11), Kim Kaufman (-13)
1:40 p.m. – Beach Course
Su Oh seems to have luck on her side this week at home. The Aussie recorded a hole-in-one at the par 3, 15th hole on the Creek Course. She went on to post a 67 to jump into contention. She backed that up with a 68 on the Beach Course on Friday to climb into the final group on moving day. Oh begins the weekend three-back of the lead. She is grouped with Haru Nomura and 36-hole leader Kim Kaufman. Nomura trails by two heading into the weekend after back-to-back rounds of 67. The three-time winner on the LPGA Tour battled a back injury over the last year and is making her first start since August. Kaufman has also dealt with her share of hardship over the last two seasons as she was diagnosed with mono. She struggled in the second half of the season, missing the cut in 12 of 14 events. Kaufman holds the lead for the first time since the 2017 CME Group Tour Championship as she looks to break through for her first victory on Tour.
Click here for complete groups and tee times for the third round of the 2019 ISPS Handa Vic Open.
Numbers to Know
132 – Kim Kaufman’s 36-hole total at the ISPS Handa Vic Open, which is the lowest of her career.
65 – Karrie Webb’s second round score at the ISPS Handa Vic Open, which is the lowest round she’s recorded on Tour since July 2017 at the Aberdeen Asset Management Ladies Scottish Open.
2 – Number of 2019 rookies inside the top 10 heading into the weekend. Charlotte Thomas is solo fourth and sits 4-back of the lead at 9-under par heading into the weekend. Kristen Gillman is T9 through 36-holes at 6-under par and 7-back of the lead.
62 – The career low round recorded by Nick Flanagan during round one of the men’s division of the ISPS Handa Vic Open. Flanagan shares the 36-hole lead with Jason Scrivener at 14-under par.
The Cut
The ISPS Handa Vic Open is a unique event that features not one but to cuts to the field. The 36-hole cut fell at Even par, with 76 players continuing on to moving day. A second cut will be made to the lowest 35 players and ties following the third round.
Cheyenne Woods, Minjee Lee and Christina Kim made the cut on the number at Even par. They’ll each need a low round on moving day to make up some ground and continue on to Sunday’s final round. Lee is a two-time winner of the ISPS Handa Vic Open, including last year’s event.
Several notables will miss playing the weekend in Australia, including Emma Talley (+1), Laura Davies (+2), Pernilla Lindberg (+4) and Charley Hull (+9).
TV Times
Watch the weekend at the ISPS Handa Vic Open on Golf Channel. The third round begins Friday evening at 9:00 p.m. and continues until 3:00 a.m. ET. The final round gets underway Saturday evening at 8:00 p.m. and continues until 2:00 a.m. ET.
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