After long day, Thompson leads by 2 in LPGA major
Lexi Thompson excelled on an extra-long day at the ANA Inspiration in Rancho Mirage (Riverside County), and she put herself in strong position for her second major title.
Thompson claimed the tournament lead while completing her winddelayed second round with a 5-under-par 67 Saturday before moving two shots ahead of Norway’s Suzann Pettersen with another 67 in the third round. After playing 28 holes on the day, Thompson was at 13under 203 heading into Sunday’s final round.
“I struggled a little bit off the tee and had a few more rough shots than I wanted, but you can’t ever complain about a 5-under round,” Thompson said.
The 22-year-old Thompson’s victory in this event in 2014 is her only previous major victory, but the American excels on the Dinah Shore Course at Mission Hills Country Club. She smashed her drives on the way to six birdies in the third round.
“I just love this golf course,” Thompson said. “I get to hit a lot of drivers, and it just sets up nicely for me all over.”
Thompson and Pettersen stayed ahead of a field posting unusually low scores, with the 2over 146 matching the lowest cut score in tournament history.
They did it despite intermittent returns of the desert wind that called an early halt to Thursday’s play and forced two days of catchup, causing 56 golfers to complete their second rounds on Saturday morning. The field got all caught up on a postcardperfect desert Saturday, and warm weather is expected Sunday.
Pettersen shot a thirdround 68 to reach 11 under, and Australia’s Minjee Lee joined a South Korean trio — Inbee Park, So Yeon Ryu and Mi Jung Hur — at 10under 206. Michelle Wie, Cristie Kerr, world No. 2 Ariya Jutanugarn and France’s Karine Icher are five shots behind Thompson at 8 under.
Redwood City’s Lucy Li, 14, made her first cut at a major when she completed her second round with a 74. She then fired a 78 in the third round and stood at 7-over 223. She was the only amateur to make the cut.
PGA Tour: Sung Kang shot a 1-under 71 to hold a three-shot lead over Rickie Fowler after the third round of the Houston Open in Humble, Texas.
After shooting a tournament course record 9-under 63 on Friday, Kang had taken a sixshot lead with a 36-hole tournament record of 128. But on Saturday, it was Fowler’s day to chase history, shooting a 5under 67 to trim Kang’s lead as they head into the final round.
Fowler has a PGA Tour career-best 22 birdies through three rounds.
Behind Kang and Fowler — who were at 17-under 199 and 14-under 202, respectively — Russell Henley was at 13-under 203 and Luke List at 12-under 204. No one else was within eight shots of Kang.