LPGA Hall of Famer Inbee Park of South Korea on Saturday fired a three-under par 69 and stretched her lead to five strokes after the third round of the LPGA Kia Classic, as Taiwan’s Hsu Wei-ling slipped to 11th place.
Park, a seven-time major champion seeking her 21st career LPGA title, stood on 12-under 204 after 36 holes at Aviara, north of San Diego, California.
After leading by only a single stroke when the day began, Park seized command as rivals stumbled, leaving England’s Mel Reid, Australian Minjee Lee and South Korean Hur Mi-jung sharing second on 209.
Photo: AFP
“I’m going to have to do something special to get it done,” Reid said.
“The game plan is to play aggressive and there’s nothing to lose. I’m going to try and get as close as I can to Inbee, but she’s an unbelievable golfer and she’s going to be hard to beat. She doesn’t make any mistakes,” Reid said.
“She’s one of the best players to ever play our game. You’re going to have to probably shoot six or seven-under to even have a chance of winning,” she added.
Hsu, who had held with the pack in fifth after the second round, stood on four-under 212 at the end of her third round. The 26-year-old had three birdies tempered by three bogeys, leaving the world No. 134 player with a par 72 for the round, and tied at 11th with American Annie Park and Nicole Broch Larsen of Denmark.
Meanwhile, Taiwan’s Cheng Ssu-chia, 23, stood on one-under 215, placing her tied for 28th. The 23-year-old world No. 290 had six birdies and an eagle in the third round, along with four bogeys to end the round with three-under par.
Former world No. 1 Yani Tseng was cut after the second round on Friday, after golfing an 82 and 84 on the par 72 course.
Additional reporting by staff writer
Inter on Sunday were given a letoff when they snatched a late 1-1 derby draw with AC Milan, while league leaders SSC Napoli were held by a late goal at AS Roma. Reigning champions Inter remain three points behind Napoli, who looked to be heading five clear as they led in Rome until Angelino volleyed in a stunning leveler in the first minute of stoppage-time. Angelino’s strike gave even more significance to Stefan de Vrij’s last-gasp equalizer at the San Siro. The defender forced home Nicola Zalewski’s knockdown just as it looked like Tijjani Reijnders’ opener would be enough for Milan. “I can
The Washington Capitals and Winnipeg Jets on Saturday did not disappoint in a thrilling midseason matchup in front of a fired-up sellout crowd of more than 18,500 fans. The top two teams in the NHL delivered with a combined nine goals, including the 877th of Alex Ovechkin’s career to put him 18 back of breaking Wayne Gretzky’s record. That tied the score, the Jets pulled it out in overtime and just about everyone involved got their money’s worth out of the 5-4 game. “We knew how we were both sitting in the standings and both having real good years,” Winnipeg coach Scott
BACK-TO-BACK: The League One club, which is owned by stars Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney, is sparing no expense to clinch promotion to the Championship Hollywood endings are pricey, even in England’s third division. In pursuit of their third straight promotion, Wrexham AFC splashed some cash at League One rival Reading to secure the services of striker Sam Smith. The Welsh club owned by actors Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney confirmed the signing of the 26-year-old Smith on Friday. He is one of the top scorers in the third division. The transfer fee was not disclosed, but British media widely reported it to be about £2 million (US$2.48 million) — not extravagant, but a hefty price at this level and it would be about the same figure that
Santiago Castro on Tuesday had an immediate impact off the bench as he scored the goal to send Bologna into the Coppa Italia semi-finals for the first time in 26 years. Bologna won 1-0 against last year’s runners-up, Atalanta BC, and are to play either holders Juventus or Empoli in the final four. Juventus are to host Empoli in their quarter-final on Feb. 26. The last time Bologna reached the semi-finals was in 1999, when they lost 4-2 to ACF Fiorentina. There were chances for both sides in a high-tempo match in Bergamo, but it was Bologna who broke the deadlock 10 minutes from