Kim Sei-young set up a shootout in the desert after a sloppy third-round finish.
The South Korean player stumbled late on Saturday afternoon in the JTBC Founders Cup, handing the lead to Ji Eun-hee and putting Stacy Lewis, Lydia Ko and many others in far better position than they expected.
Three strokes ahead after an eagle on the par-four 13th, Kim failed to birdie the par-five 15th and bogeyed the par-four 16th and par-three 17th. Her two-under-par 70 dropped her into a tie for second with Lewis, a stroke behind Ji.
Photo: AFP
“It’s OK. I have one day: Tomorrow,” said Kim, the LPGA Tour rookie of the year last season after winning three times. “I like to play the chase on the lead. It’s more comfortable to me.”
She was two-over on the final five holes, while Ji and Lewis were each three-under.
Ji made a 12-foot birdie putt on 17 and finished with a 65 to reach 18-under 198 on another perfect day at Desert Ridge’s Wildfire Golf Club. She is winless since the 2009 US Women’s Open.
“My putting was really good,” Ji said. “My iron shot was really good, too. I was really struggling with my irons the last couple of weeks, but it’s getting better this week.”
Lewis had a 64, closing with a four-foot birdie putt on the par-four 18th.
“These scores are just ridiculous,” Lewis said. “You just can’t look at a leaderboard. You just go out there and make as many birdies as you can.”
The Texan won the event in 2013 and finished second the past two years. She has nine runner-up finishes in a 43-event victory drought that dates to June 2014.
“I’m just really happy to see some good scores going up,” Lewis said.
Jacqui Concolino was two strokes back after a 68. The top-ranked Ko, Carlota Ciganda and Paula Creamer were another shot behind. Ko and Ciganda shot 64, while Paula Creamer had a 67.
“When I saw some of the highlights of the leaders, they seem like they were holing a lot of putts, and that’s what I wasn’t doing the first two days,” Ko said. “I was a lot better today.”
Kaohsiung-born Candie Kung was in a share of 31st after matching her first-round 68 to be on 206 overall, eight shots off the lead. Taiwan’s Hsu Wei-ling had a 69 for 210 overall and a share of 59th.
Additional reporting by staff writer
ADVANTAGE ATLETICO: Well off the pace in La Liga, the Copa del Rey represents Atletico Madrid’s best chance of silverware this season Atletico Madrid on Thursday hammered Copa del Rey holders Barcelona 4-0 in the first leg of their semi-final. After an Eric Garcia own-goal sent Diego Simeone’s side ahead early on, Antoine Griezmann, Ademola Lookman and Julian Alvarez struck to give Atletico a landslide lead by halftime. Barca defender Garcia was sent off in the final stages, with Atletico maintaining their significant advantage on the record 32-time winners, which they take into the second leg at the Camp Nou on March 3. Both sides missed good chances in the second half, with Barca’s Pau Cubarsi having a goal disallowed before Garcia was sent off
Stade Rennais, four days after firing coach Habib Beye, stunned Paris Saint-Germain 3-1 on Friday, snapping the defending champions’ seven-match winning run in French Ligue 1. Second-placed RC Lens could leapfrog the champions and retake top spot last night after press time if they beat Paris FC in the capital. PSG started brightly, with Ousmane Dembele and Desire Doue carving openings to no avail. Rennes fired Beye on Monday and promoted his assistant Sebastien Tambouret, and the same players who had lost four games on the bounce seemed transformed. Jordanian forward Mousa al-Tamari bagged the opener, unleashing a fierce strike
Dasun Shanaka hammered the fastest half-century by a Sri Lankan in T20Is as the cohosts thrashed Oman by 105 runs at the World Cup yesterday in Pallekele, Sri Lanka, for their second win in Group B. The 2014 champions piled up 225-5, the highest total of the tournament, before restricting an outclassed Oman to 120-9. The 43-year-old Mohammad Nadeem waged a lone battle for Oman, compiling an unbeaten 53 to become the oldest player to score a 50 in T20 World Cups. Having promoted himself up the order and under pressure to deliver, Sri Lanka skipper Shanaka smashed a 19-ball half-century. It has been
Manchester City FC halved Arsenal FC’s lead at the top of the Premier League with a 3-0 home defeat of Fulham FC, and Aston Villa FC stayed in the frame with a late 1-0 victory at home to Brighton and Hove Albion FC on Wednesday. Nottingham Forest FC squandered a chance to put some distance between themselves and the bottom three as they drew 0-0 at home to bottom club Wolverhampton Wanderers FC. Second-from-bottom Burnley FC pulled off a remarkable 3-2 comeback win over Crystal Palace FC to boost their slender survival hopes. City have little margin for error in their pursuit
RSS