[ad_1]
Issued on:
Washington (AFP)
Ally McDonald, hoping to win her first LPGA title, threw a 3-under-par 69 for a one-shot lead after Saturday’s Drive On Championship third round.
The American stood at 203, 13 below zero, after 54 holes at Reynolds Lake Oconee in Greensboro, Georgia.
Filipino Bianca Pagdanganan shot 69, the 22-year-old closed with consecutive birdies to place second with 204 with American Danielle Kang third with 205, Spanish Carlota Ciganda fourth with 206 and Australian Katherine Kirk fifth with 207.
The world’s 62nd best McDonald’s LPGA results have been two third-place displays, most recently at last year’s ShopRite Classic.
She expects a breakthrough on her 28th birthday Sunday at an event that was created to fill a gap between US events after the coronavirus pandemic wiped out the LPGA’s usual Asian twist.
Spectators are not allowed on the field, but boaters in the lakeside layout honked their horns for a good shot throughout the round.
The world’s 233rd Pagdanganan, who turns 23 next week, is looking forward to her first LPGA win in just her sixth career start.
Kang, fifth-ranked, who turned 28 on Tuesday, won the LPGA’s first two Covid-19 comeback events in August. He was going to be looking for a third consecutive LPGA crown in Shanghai this week after Covid-19 wiped out the event.
McDonald, who started the day with a one-shot lead over Pagdanganan and Kang, opened with a bogey but recovered with a birdie in the fifth.
He had three birdies in a row starting at par-3 eighth, strong iron shots setting up short birdie putts followed by a long effort from the green at 10, to go 13 under.
Kang bogey at the second par 5, but made a three-birdie run on her own starting at the fourth par 3, but a three-putt bogey at the tenth left her three behind.
McDonald jumped off the edge with a birdie putt at 11 but birdie par 5 at 12 to get to 14 under.
Kang birdied par 4 13-15 to get within two shots, while McDonald saved par 15 on a six-foot putt after finding a bunker on the green.
But Kang’s tee shot at 16 shot to the right and out of bounds and she needed a 10-foot putt just to rescue the double bogey. When McDonald reached three feet and sank a par putt, she regained a four-shot lead.
McDonald missed the green on par 3 on the 17th, barely over the edge with a pitch and dunked a four-foot bogey putt while Pagdanganan birdied on 17-18 to take second place alone.
© 2020 AFP
