Saturday, March 29, 2008

Safeway International Saturday: Break 70 or Get Passed!

The low scoring continues on moving day at the Safeway International!

Let's start with the rounds of the day. Grace Park shot a 65 today to move into the top 20 at -7. Over her last 27 holes, she has made 9 birdies and no bogeys. Inbee Park, meanwhile, has rattled off 14 birdies and only 1 bogey in her past 36 holes. Her 65 matches her namesake for low round of the day and gets her to 4th place at -12. Teresa Lu may be able to top them both, however. With 2 eagles--including a hole-in-one today on the 8th hole--to go with her 9 birdies and 3 bogeys in her last 45 holes, Lu has vaulted herself into the top 13 at -8, despite "only" shooting a 66 today. Thanks to a bogey-free 30 on the back, Lindsey Wright matched Lu's 66 and leaped into a tie for 4th with Park.

All that's well and good, Jee Young Lee is likely to say, but have they been able to chase down Angela Stanford and Lorena Ochoa the way she has? With 15 birdies and an eagle--and only a lone double bogey marring her scorecard--over the past 54 holes, Lee has fired off 3 straight 67s and ends Saturday tied with Stanford and one back of Ochoa, despite the fact that both have made 20 birdies in their 54 holes.

By the way, Hee Young Park (-9, T8), Sun Young Yoo (-9, T8), Maria Hjorth (-8, T13), and Natalie Gulbis (-6, T29) matched Lee's 67 today, but they--and everyone else among the 29 players within 10 shots of Ochoa--will need to break Stanford's course record to get in the mix on Sunday. Only 7 players end Saturday double digits under par, and even Ji-Young Oh (-10, 7th place) and Christina Kim (-11, 6th place) are probably too far back to have a realistic chance to contend tomorrow on the back 9. At best, then, we'll have a 5-player race, but if Ochoa, Stanford, and Lee get off to fast starts on the front, Park and Wright will have to do something truly special to be factors in the stretch run. I can't see anything less than -18 winning tomorrow and it's likely to be the first person to get to -20 who walks away with the trophy.

[Update 3/30/08: As usual, Hound Dog provides the double whammy of overview and highlights. Thanks, HD!]

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