Following the third round at the Tour Championship on the Symetra Tour the projected Volvik Race for the Card standings see Ireland’s Stephanie Meadow in seventh place.
Meadow, whose finish at last week’s IOA Classic secured her LPGA status for 2019, has no doubt been flying high all week in the knowledge that it didn’t all come down to this week for her and it didn’t really matter how she performed at the final event of the season as she had achieved her aim of LPGA playing status.
However, that hasn’t stopped her and she is currently in T21 position on five under par following rounds of 71, 69, 71 with the projected Top 10 shown below, based on each individual’s current place in the final tournament of the Symetra Tour season, as well as that spot’s earnings (in parentheses)
- Ruixin Liu – $118,879 (T1; $27,790)
- Dottie Ardina (Laguna, Philippines) – $97,375 (T21; $2,421)
- Pavarisa Yoktuan – $86,272 (T1; $27,790)
- Elizabeth Szokol – $73,847 (5; $9,965)
- Kendall Dye – $71,375 (T3; $14,112)
- Linnea Ström (Hovas, Sweden) – $71,319 (T9; $4,856)
- Stephanie Meadow (Jordanstown, Northern Ireland) – $68,816 (T21; $2,421)
- Isi Gabsa (Munich, Germany) – $63,207 (T6; $7,043)
- Dana Finkelstein (Chandler, Arizona) – $61,164 (T13; $3,413)
- Charlotte Thomas (Guildford, England) – $60,387 (T45; $1,145)
- Min Seo Kwak (Seoul, Republic of Korea) – $58,570 (T49; $999)
- Stephanie Kono (Honolulu, Hawaii) – $58,507 (T13; $3,413)
- Jenny Haglund (Karlstad, Sweden) – $58,219 (T41; $1,305)
When round three of the Symetra Tour Championship at LPGA International started Ruixin Liu (Dalian, China) was two shots back of Pavarisa Yoktuan (Nakhon Si Thammarat, Thailand), but at the end of moving day they sit tied atop the leaderboard at 18-under par overall.
Liu fired a 5-under par 67 today to draw even with Yoktuan and said “I’m really tired and the front nine wasn’t ideal,” after recording seven birdies and two bogeys, both of which came in her 1-under par 35 going out. “The swing was bad and I had the wrong club selection, just didn’t think as clear and need to keep calm. Me and Pavarisa are friends, had a great time today and I’ll try to keep it the same way tomorrow.”
Meanwhile, the 18- and 36-hole leader carded a 3-under par 69. The only blemish on her scorecard was a double bogey on No. 2, otherwise Yoktuan dropped in five birdies.
“I just need to focus on my game and not focus on Ruixin at all,” said Yoktuan. “I feel like at some points I lost my concentration a little bit, would focus on her and that is why I kind of was off a little today. It’s okay because I came back and will try my best tomorrow.”
The performance by each player so far ties them for the Symetra Tour 54-hole scoring record. That mark was set by Vicky Hurst(Melbourne, Florida) at the 2008 Jalapeño Duramed FUTURES Golf Classic and matched by Christine Song (Fullerton, California) at the 2010 Teva Championship.
“It is really good, me and Ruixin played really good today,” Yoktuan said. “She played a little bit better, but I think that is my record for three rounds, too. I’ll take it. If I win this tournament, it will be another great job for me. All three rounds I just played so good and if I win it’ll be nice.”
As for the already two-time Symetra Tour champion in 2018, maintaining her position in the Symetra Tour Championship would earn the second-year professional Player of the Year honors. While she is chasing that, Liu is also going to shoot for the win.
“It feels awesome because I did not know about that record and to tie it is really good,” said Liu. “I just want to try and play my best tomorrow, not think about it. It would mean a lot for me to finish at No. 1 on the money list, a big achievement because it shows I did what I was supposed to and the past two years is worth it.”
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