Stephanie Meadow was only able to maintain her five-under par total after getting stuck in the mud on moving day at the Marathon Classic in Ohio.
The Jordanstown professional stormed into contention with a 66 on Friday to put an end to a string of missed cuts of late, however despite carding three birdies, Meadow carded as many dropped shots in signing for an even par 71 at Highland Meadows Golf Club.
Now just inside the top-25, Meadow is a full 11 shots back of Sei Young Kim’s lead and will need to improve on her 10 of 18 greens in regulation hit yesterday if she’s to advance her position on the leaderboard for a much-needed Sunday boost.
At the top, South Korea’s Kim took route 66 on Saturday to take a one-stroke lead over Lexi Thompson into the final round. Kim won her eighth tour title in May when capturing the LPGA Mediheal Championship in California but even with such a glittering record, she admits the prospect of Lexi Thompson chasing her down is something special.
“Tomorrow, I play with Lexi Thompson, one of my favourite players,” Kim said. “I’m very exciting playing with her. … I’m very confident right now. Play same as last three days.”
Thompson won’t be short of confidence either after landing an eagle for 65 at the last hole yesterday evening. She won the ShopRite LPGA Classic last month in New Jersey for her 11th tour title and after a two week break, she’s very much at ease in Ohio as she goes in search of number 12.
“I took my first week off at home and just relaxed and then I basically just played the second week,” Thompson said. “I just wanted to keep my swing in the groove because I was hitting it well before I took the break. Just really took it easy. Came into this week knowing I like this golf course and just this tournament in general, so it’s just been overall a fun week for me.”
Meadow’s final round gets underway this afternoon at 15.50pm
Full Scoring HERE
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