Three tied for lead in return of LPGA
Inverness Club provides formidable test at the Drive On Championship
TOLEDO, Ohio — Forgive Danielle Kang for not being used to Saturday’s conditions.
The Las Vegas resident has been playing golf in 100degree temperatures with abundant sunshine.
On the first day of August in Toledo, she dealt with pelting rain and temperatures that dipped into the 60s, making Inverness Club feel like its namesake in Scotland.
“It’s playing really tough,” said Kang, who was wideeyed when she saw 6-over par was the cutline.
Still, Kang is tied for the lead entering the final round of the LPGA Drive On Championship, shooting a 1-overpar 73 Saturday. She’s 5-under for the tournament, along with England’s Jodi Ewart Shadoff (72) and France’s Celine Boutier (71), meaning Sunday will serve as a preview of the 2021 Solheim Cup.
American Sarah Schmelzel (69) is tied for fourth with Japan’s Yui Kawamoto (71) at 3-under. Australia’s Minjee Lee (73), South Africa’s Lee-Anne Pace (74), and Sarah Burnham (72) and Amy Olson (73), both from the United States, round out the top 10 at 2-under.
There are 15 players within five shots of the lead.
“I just stayed as patient as I possibly could be,” said Schmelzel, who has one career top-10 finish. This is such a difficult golf course. You gotta take what it gives you, really. I mean, you’re going to hit bad shots. You gotta expect to make some bogeys out here. So I just tried to take it one shot at a time, attack hole locations that I could, and stay away from the ones that I couldn’t. It just ended up working out at the end of the day.”
Schmelzel and Alena Sharp, who each carded a 3under 69, were the only two players in the 132-person field who broke 70. There were nine rounds in the 80s, including Lydia Ko, who shot a 69 Friday.
The round was delayed for 45 minutes in the afternoon after several hours of rain started producing puddles on the greens. They were squeegeed, and play resumed while it was still raining.
Kang birdied her first two holes after the delay to build a two-shot lead. But she stumbled with bogeys on the ensuing three holes before birdieing the par-4 17th. Co-leaders Ewart Shadoff and Boutier had morning tee times, finishing just as the rain started to get heavy. But it doesn’t mean conditions were easy, as Ewart Shadoff discovered with a costly double-bogey on the par-4 15th.
“I think it was a little bit of lapse of concentration,” she said. “My ball on the tee shot was just in the semi-cut [of rough]. We clubbed up, but I still came up way short.”
The culprit for Kang was being put on the clock with playing partners Anna Nordqvist and Jennifer Kupcho for 10 holes, causing Kang to get out of rhythm.
“It was cold, it was windy, it was raining,” she said. “Grips were wet. I needed to dry my hands. Glove was wet. Umbrella is over there. I don’t know the yardage. All of a sudden, it’s going 30 yards shorter than yesterday. So all that compacted was a bit overwhelming for a few holes.”
It all added up to a tie for the lead for the No. 4-ranked player in the world.
“I’m definitely excited for tomorrow being in contention,” Kang said.