Saturday, October 9, 2010

Navistar Classic Saturday Afternoon: Is Cristie Kerr Going to Do in Prattville What She Did in Rochester?

Cristie Kerr went out in 30 in the 3rd round of the Navistar Classic. In other words, it took her 45 holes to run down Lorena Ochoa's 72-hole tournament record. For Mika Miyazato, who saw a 35-hole bogey-free run end on the par-4 6th and hasn't made a birdie in her 1st 8 holes today, this has to be reminiscent of LPGA Championship Saturday, when Kerr found another gear on the weekend after a scarily strong start and left the field in the dust. At one point that moving day, Mikan had pulled within 3 shots of Kerr, but she couldn't sustain her run and fell to 13th. Let's see what happens the rest of this moving day!

[Update 1 (3:49 pm): Na Yeon Choi is hanging tough after opening with a 33--she's only 3 behind Kerr. The leader's playing partner, Brittany Lincicome, has now played 16 holes of bogey free golf in a row, but in that stretch she failed to birdie either par 5 on the front yesterday and today. That's a good part of the reason why she's 5 behind Kerr through 45 holes.]

[Update 2 (3:54 pm): Dorothy Delasin ended her missed-cut streak at 25 events this week, but she's still had problems finishing off her rounds. She's +5 on the last 2 holes, -11 on the 1st 16!]

[Update 3 (3:57 pm): Disappointing walkoff bogey for Ai Miyazato leaves her at -9. She's going to need one of her patented Sunday charges to even get a top 10 this week!]

[Update 4 (4:00 pm): Lincicome finally birdies a par 5--the 10th--to pull within 4 of Kerr. It's only her 3rd birdie on a par 5 all week thus far!]

[Update 5 (4:38 pm): Kerr is on a mission! 2 birdies in a row on 12 and 13 get her to -20! Meanwhile, Haeji Kang is making a nice move of her own--she's -6 through 16 holes today and is in solo 3rd at -14 overall.]

[Update 6 (4:40 pm): Nice job by Lexi Thompson today: birdie-less and +1 through 6, bogey-free and -5 over her last 12, she joins Yoo at -11.]

[Update 7 (5:15 pm): Ouch--double bogey for Kerr at 15! With Mikan birdieing 2 in a row--at the start of yesterday's closing 4-hole birdie train--Kerr's lead on her has dropped from 9 to 5. And with Se Ri Pak and Haeji Kang shooting 67s to also pull within 5 of Kerr, the list of players with an outside chance to catch her just expanded.]

[Update 8 (5:22 pm): Add Hee Young Park to the list of players who shot 67 to get to -13. Eun-Hee Ji will need to birdie 18 to tie Ai-sama at -9--whether she does or not, though, they'll be the only 2 players from the Japan Women's Open not to be double digits under par through 54 holes the week after and half a world away.]

[Update 9 (5:25 pm): Now Katherine Hull has joined the big group at -13 as she heads onto the final hole of the day.]

[Update 10 (6:20 pm): Hull ended up birdieing 3 of her last 4 holes to get to -14. When Kerr and Choi bogeyed 18 to fall to -17 and -14, respectively, Hull found herself T2! Lincicome fell off the pace with a double on 17, leaving Mikan to round out the foursome at -13 and Anna Nordqvist (68) and Wendy Ward (67) alone at -12. Will Kerr be able to shake off her late stumble on moving day tomorrow like Mikan did last Sunday at the JWO? We'll see!]

[Update 11 (10/10/10, 4:55 am): Here are Patricia Hannigan, Mike Southern, and LPGA.com on the 3rd round.]

[Update 12 (5:46 am): Here's Stephanie Wei!]

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