Ko off pace in bid for fourth Canadian title
Kiwi women’s golf star Lydia Ko was seven shots off the pace on a congested leaderboard with a round to play in the LPGA Tour’s Canadian Open.
Three-time champion Ko carded a two-under par 70 in her third round, to be in a packed tie for 10th at 10-under par.
Ariya Jutanugarn missed a chance to take a big lead into the final round of the event, making two late bogeys at Priddis Greens.
A week after withdrawing from the Rio Olympics because of a left knee injury, the 20-year-old Thai player bogeyed the par-4 16th and par-5 18th for a 5-under 67. At 17-under 199, she had a two-stroke advantage over South Korea’s In Gee Chun.
Jutanugarn won the Women’s British Open in the event before the Olympics to tie Lydia Ko for the LPGA Tour victory lead with four. After a late meltdown in the major ANA Inspiration in April, Jutanugarn picked up the nickname May with three straight victories that month.
Hitting 2-iron and 3-wood off the tee on the driving holes, Jutanugarn had seven birdies in an 11-hole stretch yesterday on the tree-lined layout.
Chun shot 66. South Korea’s Sei Young Kim and Northern Ireland’s Stephanie Meadow were 12 under. Kim had a 68, and Meadow shot 69. Canadian star Brooke Henderson was nine back at 8 under.
Ko has won the event three of the past four years, the first two as an amateur. The 19-year-old New Zealander won in 2012 at Vancouver Golf Club at 15 years, 4 months to become the LPGA Tour’s youngest winner and fifth amateur champion. She successfully defended her title in 2013, winning by five strokes in Edmonton. Last year, back at Vancouver as a pro, she beat Stacy Lewis in a playoff.
Henderson shot her second straight 68 after opening with a rain-delayed 72. Henderson beat Ko in a playoff in June in the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship for her first major title, and successfully defended her Cambia Portland Classic title last month.
Alena Sharp topped the five Canadians to make the cut in the national championship, shooting a 67 to move into a tie for fifth at 11 under.