Park leads Lewis by 4 in Taiwan
TAIPEI, Taiwan — Inbee Park shot a 3-under 69 in windy conditions Saturday in the LPGA Taiwan Championship to increase her lead to four strokes.
Playing her first event since regaining the No. 1 spot in the world from Stacy Lewis (University of Arkansas) on Monday, the South Korean newlywed had an eagle, four birdies and three bogeys at Miramar in wind gusting to about 30 mph. In calm conditions the first two days, she shot 64-62 to take a three-stroke lead.
“It was quite different situation with the wind,” Park said. “It was playing a lot tougher. The downwind holes, it was tough to stop the ball on the green. We have quite tough holes out there, but I think I managed myself quite good.”
Park had a 21-under 195 total. She won the LPGA Championship in August for her second victory of the year and fifth major title. Last year, she swept the first three majors and won six times.
The second- ranked Lewis was tied for second with China’s Shanshan Feng.
“We’re going to have a good competition tomorrow and, obviously, four strokes around this golf course, it’s not impossible,” Park said. “I just need to putt like the way I did for the last couple days and control the ball really good in the wind.”
Lewis birdied four of the last five holes for a bogey-free 64, the best round of the day.
CIMB Classic
KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia — Defending champion Ryan Moore will draw on the experience of last year’s narrow victory when he enters the final round of the CIMB Classic on Sunday tied for the lead with Kevin Na.
Both Americans shot rounds of 5-under 67 on Saturday. Moore had seven birdies against two bogeys while Na had a bogey- free round with five birdies to move to 12-under 204 in the jointly sanctioned PGA Tour and Asian Tour event at Kuala Lumpur Golf and Country Club.
They were a shot clear of the field’s top- ranked player Sergio Garcia, who repeatedly scrambled from difficult situations to salvage pars on the back nine and finished with a round of 68.
Garcia was level on 11-under with second-round leader Billy Hurley III who had a 71 on a day that included a 2-1/2 hour rain delay.
They had a two-shot break on the next group of four players at 9-under: American trio Gary Woodland ( 66) — last year’s runner- up — Kevin Chappell (70) and Kevin Streelman ( 71) plus South Korea’s Sang-moon Bae (68).
Moore said last year’s playoff victory over Woodland gave him the belief that he can do it again today and become the first player to defend a PGA Tour title since Tiger Woods won the Arnold Palmer Invitational in 2012 and 2013.
“It can only be a positive,” Moore said. “I’ve been here and done it on this course, so that should give me that little extra confidence going into tomorrow.”