Brittany Lincicome fired a career-best 11-under 61 on Thursday, notching the best round of the LPGA season to seize a four-shot lead in the LPGA Challenge.
Lincicome nabbed 11 birdies on the 6,185-yard Blackhawk Country Club course, and her effort was the second-lowest score in relation to par in LPGA history.
Wendy Ward was four strokes adrift after a bogey-free 65.
Photo: AFP
Moira Dunn had a 66 and South Korea’s Pak Jin-young, Michele Redman, Taiwan’s Amy Hung and Australian Katherine Hull were a further stroke back on 67.
Lincicome used her power off the tee and a deft touch around the greens to fashion her gem.
She needed just 24 putts and was in trouble only once, pushing her tee-shot right at the par-five fifth, but scrambling to save par.
Lincicome set the course record and came within two shots of matching Annika Sorenstam’s LPGA Tour-record 13-under 59 set at the Standard Register PING in 2001.
“The only time I looked at the scorecard was when we made the turn,” said Lincicome, who started her round on the back nine. “I was making everything. It was pretty crazy.”
“I was making 30-footers, five-footers. Just one of those days where everything was going my way and I couldn’t do anything wrong,” she said.
It has been an inconsistent season for Lincicome, a three-time LPGA winner.
In her first four tournaments, she missed the cut once and failed to crack the top 20 three times.
She was runner-up at the Bell Micro Classic and again at last week’s Navistar Classic in Alabama.
Lincicome got off to a quick start on Thursday with five birdies in her first nine holes.
However, there was even better in store for the 25-year-old, whose six birdies coming in included birdies at her final four holes.
Ward had five birdies in her first nine holes, then added two more to stay within striking distance.
Her 40-foot putt at the 12th offset two short missed putts at six and nine.
“The pace of the greens is really good,” Ward said. “I’ve just been fine-tuning my stroke, and seeing putts go in the hole always leads to confidence.”
Ward, whose last win on tour came at the 2005 Takefuji Classic, teed off more than four hours after Lincicome. She wasn’t surprised to see someone making a charge.
“It didn’t surprise me,” Ward said. “The fairways are playing pretty hard and fast, and she hits it 50 [yards] past me. It was fun trying to chase her. I thought: ‘Well, game on.’”
Lincicome became the first player to post an 11-under round since Paula Creamer accomplished the feat at the 2008 Jamie Farr Owens Corning Classic.
JOHOR OPEN
AP, JOHOR BAHRU, Malaysia
Three-time major champion Padraig Harrington was on course for his first victory in two years by surging into the halfway lead at the Johor Open yesterday.
Harrington carded a five-under 67 in the second round for a 13-under 131 total, one stroke better than Taiwan’s Lin Wen-tang at the Horizon Hills Golf and Country Club in Malaysia’s southern Johor state.
Lin, a five-time winner in Asia, narrowly missed an eagle at the last hole to tie with Harrington, but produced the day’s best round of 65 amid strong winds at the Asian Tour event.
Lee Sung of South Korea shot a blemish-free 68 to finish three shots back in third place, while Asian Tour Order of Merit leader Noh Seung-yul of South Korea was a further stroke back in a tie with Singaporean Mardan Mamat and Australian Scott Hend on 135.
Harrington turned in 35 with two birdies and a dropped shot, but drained a 35-foot birdie putt on his 12th hole of the day. He sank a 25-footer for eagle at the par-five sixth.
“There are a lot of birdies to be made and I’ve made a few eagles,” Harrington said. “I’ve got to keep moving forward, play well and take a lead into Sunday.”
Lin excelled despite the afternoon winds, with nine birdies against two bogeys. He hit all but one fairway and peppered the flags with crisp iron play.
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