Saturday, August 23, 2014

Canadian Pacific Women's Open Saturday: So Yeon Ryu Opens Door Early; Will Anyone Kick it Down?

So Yeon Ryu started moving day of the Canadian Pacific Women's Open at -15, with a 5-shot lead on playing partners Anna Nordqvist and Danielle Kang, as well as Na Yeon Choi, who's playing in the group in front of them alongside Cristie Kerr and Brittany Lincicome.  Well, Ryu's bogey-free run came to an end after 38 holes with her 1st bogey of the week on the par-4 3rd and when she failed to bogey the par-5 4th she had officially opened the door to the field.  And Choi has been the 1st to walk through it, making 3 birdies in her 1st 5 holes to pull within 1 shot of Ryu.  Nordqvist birdied the 4th to get to -11, Kang has extended her bogey-free streak to 38 holes herself and is still at -10, Azahara Munoz birdied 3 of her 1st 7 holes to join her at -10, Suzann Pettersen and Lizette Salas have caught Lincicome at -9, and Karrie Webb has just birdied 3 holes in a row late in her round to get to -5 on her day and -8 overall, tied with Kerr, Harukyo Nomura, Kim Kaufman, and a player you may have heard of by the name of Inbee Park.

[Update 1 (1:40 pm):  Webb has a chance to outdo Chie Arimura and Line Vedel for low round of the day.  Both of them moved up to -6 with Karine Icher, who fired a 68 of her own in a round that was highlighted by 5 birdies in a row as she made the turn.  Mirim Lee also shot a 68 today, but generally scores are higher and birdies are fewer and farther between than during the 1st 2 rounds.]

[Update 2 (1:41 pm):  I have to take my car into the shop for a regular check-up now.  Hopefully the wi fi at the dealer's is working!]

[Update 3 (2:05 pm):  It is!  Ryu birdied the 6th to get back to -15.  Salas's bogey-free run ended at 33 holes and then she added insult to injury with her 2nd bogey in a row of the day on the par-3 8th.  She's fallen to -7.]

[Update 4 (2:07 pm):  Nordqvist also birdied 6 to get to -12.  Lincicome joined Munoz and Kang at -10 with a birdie on the par-5 7th.]

[Update 5 (2:08 pm):  Nomura fired a 3-birdie 34 on the front to move to -9.]

[Update 6 (2:10 pm):  Ai Miyazato birdied the 2nd and extended her bogey-free run to 34 holes, but she bogeyed 3 to drop back to -7, where she's stayed the entire front.]

[Update 7 (2:11 pm):  Add Shanshan Feng to the list of players who needed a birdie barrage to squeak into the weekend who kept it going on moving day. Her 5-birdie 68 moved her to -5 for the week.]

[Update 8 (2:13 pm):  Inbee couldn't birdie any of the 1st 3 par 5s today, but she just got one on the par-4 11th to move to -9.]

[Update 9 (2:14 pm):  Ouch!  Turned out Salas doubled 8.]

[Update 10 (2:15 pm):  Munoz birdied 11 to get to -11!]

[Update 11 (2:16 pm):  Ryu makes it 2 birdies in a row with another one on the par-5 7th.  She's now birdied each of the par 5s on the front 2 out of 3 times this week each.  1st time she's at -16.]

[Update 12 (2:20 pm):  Kaufman birdied the par-4 14th to get to -4 on her day and -9 overall.]

[Update 13 (2:21 pm):  Salas's hopes are dimming even further as she bogeys 9 to go +4 in her last 3 holes and fall back to -5.]

[Update 14 (2:22 pm):  Ko has hit every green but 1 and parred every hole but 1.  At -6 with 4 holes to play, she needs a real closing run to have a hope tomorrow.]

[Update 15 (2:25 pm):  Sydnee Michaels has made 5 birdies today, including 2 in her last 3 holes, to move to -8.]

[Update 16 (2:30 pm):  Aza's -5 through 12 and -12 overall!]

[Update 17 (2:32 pm):  Kerr birdies 9 to get back to -9!]

[Update 18 (2:34 pm):  So does Lincicome.  She's -11 now!]

[Update 19 (2:36 pm):  Pornanong Phatlum has birdied her last 2 holes in a row to move to -8.  She's -3 and bogey-free today and has a 27-hole bogey-free run going.]

[Update 20 (2:38 pm):  Mariajo Uribe has birdied 4 of her last 7 holes to move to -9.]

[Update 21 (2:41 pm):  Inbee birdies the par-3 13th to get to -10.  Pettersen bogeys 11 to fall back to -8.  Salas birdies the par-5 10th to fight back to -6.]

[Update 22 (2:45 pm):  Stacy Lewis has been having a quiet day, but she just made her 2nd birdie in her last 7 holes to get to -6.  Like Ko, she needs to make something happen down the home stretch to even have a thought about a hope tomorrow.]

[Update 23 (2:49 pm):  A birdie for Michaels on the par-5 16th gets her to -9.]

[Update 24 (2:50 pm):  Nomura birdies the par-4 12th to get to -10.  Kerr gets her 2nd birdie in a row, this one on the par-5 10th, to join her.]

[Update 25 (2:52 pm):  There are currently 9 players double digits under par, or within 6 shots of the lead.]

[Update 26 (2:54 pm):  So far today there have been only 10 rounds posted in the 60s.]

[Update 27 (2:56 pm):  Aza birdies 14 to get to -6 on her round and -13 overall, only 3 behind Ryu.]

[Update 28 (2:57 pm):  Another birdie for Inbee!  She's now -11!!]

[Update 29 (2:58 pm):  Ko bogeys the par-5 16th to fall back to -5.  Just not her week.]

[Update 30 (2:58 pm):  Miyazato birdies 12 to get to -8.]

[Update 31 (3:01 pm):  Lincicome birdies 11 to get to -12.  She's now -4 on her round.]

[Update 32 (3:03 pm):  Ryu birdies the 10th to get to -17.  The rest of the field should start feeling the pressure right about now.  Let's see who responds!]

[Update 33 (7:21 pm):  Well, the car is fine, I watched the tv coverage, and wow, did Aza go low!  Even though she tied Ryu's course record, she's still 4 shots behind her, as SYR ended up making 6 birdies in her last 13 holes to get to -20 for the week!  NYC made a couple of late birdies to post a 66 and join Munoz at -16.  The only other player seemingly with half a chance to win is Inbee, who extended her bogey-free run to 54 holes and counting and whose 65 got her within 6 of Ryu.  Yup, 5 birdies in a row on the back and she made up 2 shots on the leader.]

[Update 34 (7:30 pm):  So everybody else lost still more ground on Ryu.  Nordqvist has a 20-hole bogey-free run going, but only made 3 birdies in that stretch, so she's 7 back.  She's missed 6 fairways and 5 greens in regulation all week and she's 7 back!  Lincicome birdied 4 of her 1st 11 holes but hit the wall after that, parring out and ending up 8 off the pace.  At least she has a 43-hole-and-counting bogey-free streak going into the final round.  Kang played some pretty solid golf, but offset 2 of her 4 birdies today with a pair of bogeys, so she's also 8 behind.  Kerr's putting isn't up to her standards this week, but she did make 3 birdies in her last 10 holes and has a 17-hole bogey-free streak going, so she's "only" 9 back.  And that's it for those less than double digits behind SYR!]

[Update 35 (7:34 pm):  So of those way behind but still playing well, I'll focus on only a few.  Pettersen's putting has been even more frustrating than Kerr's, so she's 11 down.  Nomura got it to -10 but doubled 14 and bogeyed 18 to drop 13 behind.  Speaking of screwing up the end of a round, Brittany Lang should have been -10 after 16 holes yesterday, but instead she's had to fight her way back to -8 over those next 21 holes.  Uribe finished bogey-bogey to drop back to -7.  Most weeks that would mean, bear down the next day.  Tomorrow, even a 59 from anyone at -7 probably wouldn't win this thing!  Won't stop me for rooting for one for Ai-sama....]

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