As the saying goes, ‘slow and steady wins the race.’ If that race is the CP Women’s Open, then Sarah Schmelzel has the ‘steady’ part down. Over the first three rounds, she has quietly crept up the leaderboard to land in a tie for fourth, just two shots out of the lead, going into championship Sunday. After posting an impressive bogey-free 64 on Friday, the American found herself closer to the pinnacle of the leaderboard than she has been in a while. She bettered her birdie pace on Saturday with eight circles on the card, but she just couldn’t keep the bogeys at bay, finishing with a 5-under 66.
“Being a little closer to the lead than I have been in the while, I started off a little nervous but fortunately had a really long putt go in on 1, had another one on 2. I told my caddie on the fairway on 4, I'm pretty nervous right now, and he just kind of calmed me down,” she said, “From then he just said, it's not over until it's over. Even if I made a bogey I felt like I could birdie the next hole, which I kind of went back and forth a bunch on the back nine doing that.”
Her putter was clearly working for her on Saturday as she only needed 25 putts to finish the round, the fewest in the field. It’s a nice change of place, she says, to play well enough to be in contention. This season, her fourth on the LPGA Tour, has been average. She got off to a hot start with a solo third in the second event, the LPGA Drive On Championship at Crown Colony, and she has made 14 of 17 cuts, but it’s been less than ideal overall. Now she’s near the top of the leaderboard, and she believes that her attitude is everything.
“Obviously just a new position for me a little bit,” she said. “I've been middle of the pack for most of the year, so just kind of getting comfortable (is key). I think that was a big key today, was just keeping a positive attitude, trying to fight until the finish… Tomorrow, just try and be calm, play like I have nothing to lose.”
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