Lauren Walsh has given herself an outside chance of clinching her maiden LPGA Tour title after she moved to within five shots of the lead heading into the final round of the Shoprite LPGA.
Walsh carded a 69 to move into a share of 7th place on three-under-par and she is just one shot shy of second place as she looks to break from the chasing pack and hunt down Soo Bin Joo who is eight-under after a 68.
The Castlewarden native started slowly with a bogey on the 14th but burst into life with an eagle on the par-5 9th and a birdie on the 1st and she played her next eight holes in level par mixing two birdies and two bogeys.
It has also been a positive week for Leona Maguire so far ahead of next week’s US Women’s Open. She is seventeenth on one-under-par while Stephanie Meadow made the cut on one-over.
Bin Joo thrived in a raging wind off the Atlantic Ocean, closing with a long two-putt birdie on the 18th hole and watching her lead to grow to four shots by the end of a taxing day.
Joo, whose only professional win was on the Epson Tour two years ago, finished two different rounds at Seaview Hotel at 8-under 134.
“I was barely making pars on the golf course today and yesterday was like going for birdies on every single hole,” Joo said. “So different game plan and a different mindset. I think that put me in a good position today.”
Joo is the No. 252 player in the world, with her best success coming in the fall when she is trying to get back a full card. Now she has a four-shot lead as she goes for her first LPGA title.
“I started playing golf because I want to win a tournament on LPGA, so it will be super fun, very exciting,” she said. “But right now I just want to get a hot shower. So cold, yeah. Freezing.”
Leave a comment