Lizette Salas thinks things are finally going her way and the results on the golf course are starting to match the work she has put in her game.
Without a top-10 finish this year, Salas shot a seven-under 64 on Saturday to take a four-stroke lead in the Meijer LPGA Classic, putting her in position for her second tour title.
“A lot has happened since I turned pro four years ago, and I have struggled this year, but also kept working,” Salas said. “Finally, I’m playing the golf I’ve been working so hard to find. I’m really happy.”
She stayed calm in the third round, scoring birdies on holes 14 through 16 and closing her bogey-free round with two pars. She had a 16-under 197 total at the Blythefield Country Club.
Birdies on three of the first four holes and another at the par-four ninth hole allowed Salas to pull in front of the field. After saving par with a 25-foot putt at 13, she hit a shot inside 2 feet at the par-three 14th for birdie and followed with a 6-footer at 15 and a 30-footer at 16.
Lexi Thompson and Michigan native Kris Tamulis were tied for second. Tamulis, whose family still summers in Northern Michigan, shot 67. Thompson had a 68.
Tamulis, a former Michigan Women’s Open winner and Symetra Tour graduate, said winning for the first time on the LPGA Tour in her home state would be a dream come true.
Thompson, tied for the second-round lead with Salas and Alison Lee, missed a 4-foot putt and made bogey at 16, but birdied the par-four 18th with a 3-footer.
Thompson was disappointed with her putter most of the day.
Lee had a 70 to drop into a tie for fourth at six-under with Brittany Lincicome (65), Caroline Masson (65), So Yeon Ryu (65), Katie Burnett (66) and Gerina Piller (69).
Top-ranked Inbee Park, a three-time winner this year, had five birdies in a six-hole stretch and finished with a 66 to move into a tie for 10th at five-under. She said it was great to be near the lead in preparation for next week’s Women’s British Open.
Taiwan’s Hsu Wei-ling finished tied for 14th after carding an even-par 71, while Min Lee heads into the final round tied for 29th with a five-under-par total 208.
Additional reporting by staff writer
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