With a 20-foot birdie putt at No. 18, Spain’s Azahara Munoz closed out a round of 2-under 69 on Saturday and takes a one-stroke lead at -7 into Sunday’s final round of the Aberdeen Standard Investment Ladies Scottish Open. Munoz, one of two players with three sub-par rounds at The Renaissance Club, found all 13 fairways on Saturday and sits 18 holes away from her second career LPGA Tour victory.
“It's been another solid day. Today I think I literally hit every fairway, lots of greens,” said Munoz, whose only career win came at the 2012 Sybase Match Play Championship. “Maybe I couldn't make a few more putts today but still made some nice ones, some nice par saves. The pins were so tricky, a couple holes into the wind were playing really long and overall, I kept managing myself well like the last couple days.”
Two-time major champion Stacy Lewis had prime birdie chances on 17 and 18 to reach 7 under. Her putt at No. 17 stopped just a roll short of falling in, seemingly hovering on the edge of the hole before Lewis finally tapped in for par. On the closing hole, Lewis placed her approach within 6 feet of the hole but sent the birdie putt past to finish with a third-round 70. Lewis heads to the final round at -6, one stroke behind Munoz in her attempt to earn her first victory since the 2017 Cambia Portland Classic.
“I think big picture, you take under par on this golf course any day. Definitely left some putts out there on the back nine that I'd like to – I hit them where I wanted to, so I don't know what I would do different but I just would have liked to made a couple more there coming in,” said Lewis, who could also become the first mother to win an LPGA Tour event since Cristie Kerr won the 2017 Sime Darby LPGA Malaysia. “But all in all, I stuck to my game plan, made some good up-and-downs when I needed to, and still a pretty solid day.”
Jennifer Song shot a 1-under 71 to join Munoz with three rounds under par. Song sit in solo third at -4, looking for the first victory of her 10-year LPGA Tour career.
Former Rolex Rankings No. 1 Lydia Ko shot Saturday’s round of the day, carding a bogey-free 4-under 67 and moving into a tie for fourth with Cheyenne Knight. Ko is looking for redemption after losing a five-stroke lead with six holes to play at last week’s Marathon LPGA Classic.
Danielle Kang shot a 2-under 69 on Saturday and heads to Sunday’s final round five strokes off the pace at -2. Kang won the LPGA Tour’s last two events in Ohio and is attempting to become the first player since Ariya Jutanugarn in 2016 to win three consecutive events. She came back from four strokes behind after 54 holes to win the Marathon LPGA Classic by one stroke over Ko.
The Aberdeen Standard Investments Ladies Scottish Open is the first of two consecutive events in Scotland. Next week, the Tour heads to Royal Troon for the season’s first major, the AIG Women’s Open.
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