Stephanie Meadow battled her way to a two-under 70 on day three of the Blue Bay LPGA at Jian Lake on China’s Hainan Island, remaining in the hunt for that elusive first LPGA Tour victory.
Rounds of 70 and 68 on days one and two respectively saw the Jordanstown woman three back heading into the weekend at -6, and while she couldn’t quite reproduce the birdie counts of her opening rounds, limiting the mistakes means that she’s only four back going into tomorrow’s fourth and final round.
After seven successive pars to start, she opened the day’s birdie account on the par-5 eighth and then recorded her eighth par of the opening nine to make the turn at one-under. Unfortunately, she’d give that shot back with a bogey-five at 10, and she knew that she’d need to pick up at least a couple of strokes over the closing eight holes.
Thankfully, that bogey at 10 would be her only dropped shot of the day and a birdie at 13 got her back moving in the right direction. She’d close out the day with another on 18, moving to -8 and reaching the clubhouse in a tie for seventh.
Of the duo that were leading at halfway, only Sarah Schmelzel remains in with a shout after the American’s three-under saw her retain a share of the lead, whereas Narin An who stormed to the top of the board with a 65 on day two headed the wrong direction with a third round 76.
Schmelzel is now tied with Bailey Tardy and ominously, Lydia Ko. The former world number one already has a victory and a runner-up this season, and she shot a Saturday 66 to ascend to the top of the board.
The Kiwi is seeking her 21st LPGA Tour win which would tie Korean Inbee Park in 11th on the career victories list, and she’d be just four wins shy of moving into the top 10. This would be quite the turnaround given her struggles in 2023 having started the year ranked number one in the world and finding herself on the outside looking in at the season-ending CME Globe Championship.
“Yeah, after last year I wasn’t really sure how this year was going to go,” Ko said. “To be able to win with Jason [Day] in the last event in 2023 [the co-sanctioned PGA Tour and LPGA Grant Thornton Invitational] was a good bit of confidence booster because I had lost a lot of it during the season.
“To be able to win the first event on the schedule, especially at my home club, was I think it meant a lot.
“I was able to play well; close one in Bradenton. Still a lot of golf to be played, and it seems like someone shoots a really low score at least one of the rounds. We all know the pin positions dictate the scores, so I just got to stay patient and keep giving myself good looks and see where that puts me.”
China’s Ruixin Liu is in solo fourth at -10, two back, with Minjee Lee and Savannah Grewal tied for fifth at -9, one ahead of Meadow.
The round of the day belonged to Canadian Grewal who set a new course record with her eight-under 64, this despite a double-bogey six on the 12th.
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