It seems like no player has been more consistent lately than Texan Cheyenne Knight and the 26-year-old is continuing her upward trend at the Mizuho Americas Open, carding a 2-under, 70 on Saturday at Liberty National Golf Club to sit at 9-under and two back of the lead. Knight recorded three birdies in a four-hole stretch from No. 5 to No. 8 and only dropped one shot with a bogey on the par-4, 17th hole. It's the fourth time this season that she has been within five of the lead in a stroke-play event heading into the final round. In the three previous instances, Knight earned two top-10 finishes, a T6 at the JM Eagle LA Championship presented by Plastpro, and a solo ninth at the Cognizant Founders Cup. As she looks ahead to another championship Sunday with a shot at her second career LPGA Tour victory, Knight will be working on keeping things simple and not putting any unnecessary stress on herself as she works to chase down leader Rose Zhang.
"I think sometimes the athlete or the competitor in us, we make a situation more than it needs to be rather than just keeping it simple and precise, rather than cloud your mind with the fogginess and thoughts of what it means and stuff and just kind of make sure I'm just doing the task at hand and the task at hand the best I can do. Got to be okay with the result," Knight said. "(My game) was really clicking last year, even though it may not have come together all four days. I knew I was working on the right things and I'm continuing to do that. I'm very confident in how I play golf, and I know that that's good enough."
Knight won quickly on the LPGA Tour, capturing her first victory at the 2019 Ascendant LPGA benefiting Volunteers of America in her rookie season. Unfortunately, she hasn't been able to do much since, recording nine other top-10 finishes throughout the last four years. But Knight is looking to buck that trend on Sunday, planning to attack a scorable Liberty National in an effort to be the one hoisting the trophy as Lady Liberty looks on.
"I think I learned a lot from JM Eagle, playing with the lead. I was a little bit tentative and trying not to lose rather than playing fearlessly and aggressively, so I learned from that a few weeks ago. So just take that into (Sunday), even though I'm like two back," said Knight. "But as you've seen on this golf course, people can get a lot of birdies rolling quickly. I'm excited to attack and give myself some chances and hopefully they drop."
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