Sunday, March 24, 2013

Kia Classic Saturday: Recari Regains Lead with Eagle

Beatriz Recari eagled the par-4 16th to soar to -11 in the Kia Classic and take a two-shot lead over Hall of Famer Karrie Webb (who finished bogey-bogey), a three-shot lead over Paula Creamer and In-Kyung Kim, and a four-shot lead over world #1 Stacy Lewis, Cristie Kerr, and Lizette Salas.  With 1st-round leader Jane Park and 16-eagler Inbee Park lurking 5 shots back, this is still anyone's tournament.  I'm very curious to see if Lewis can put together another Sunday charge, if Webb decides it's about time she put her name back front and center in conversations about the best in the world of women's golf, if Creamer and Kim will put their recent (and by now for the latter, not-so-recent) near-misses firmly in the rear-view mirror--or if Recari can keep playing like a champion and keep them all out of the winner's circle!  Here are the final-round pairings....

I don't know if there's a super-low round to be had at Aviara, but Na Yeon Choi made 4 birdies in a row on the back to post a 68, tied with Amy Yang and Ha-Neul Kim, who got theirs early.  So if someone starts low and keeps it going until she gets to double digits under par, that tough 18th could make for an interesting end to the week for the final groups....  As bangkokbobby says, Recari has been playing some great golf this season and really solid golf for a long time!

[Update 1 (11:07 am):  Here's T-Joh's reaction to finding out she's paired with Se Ri Pak today!]

1 comment:

leftygomez said...

Great leaderboard, looking forward to the coverage later. I have to say my heart is with I.K., really want to see her back near the top as this years majors commence.