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GREENSBORO, GEORGIA – OCTOBER 24: Bianca Pagdanganan launches her round on the 18th green during Round 3 of the 2020 LPGA Drive On Championship – Reynolds Lake Oconee on October 24, 2020 in Greensboro, Georgia. Mike Comer / Getty Images / AFP
WASHINGTON – Ally McDonald, hoping to win her first LPGA title, pitched a three-under-par 69 for a one-shot lead after Saturday’s Drive On Championship third round.
The American made four birdies over five holes in the middle of her round to settle at 203, 13 under par, after 54 holes at Reynolds Lake Oconee in Greensboro, Georgia.
“I played really solid golf after I settled in,” McDonald said. “I am excited with the position I am in. Mentally I think I handled myself very well. Ready to face tomorrow. “
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.
“I am sitting at the head. People will come for leadership, ”McDonald said. “It is not running away from it. It’s accepting where I am and trying not to be complacent and just going out and executing my game plan.
“I am definitely in a more comfortable position knowing that what I have in me is enough. I don’t have to push myself and be more than I am. It’s just trusting what I know I can do. “
Spectators are not allowed on the field, but boaters in the lakeside layout honked their horns for a good shot throughout the round.
World No. 233 Pagdanganan, the LPGA leader in driving yards who will turn 23 next week, is looking forward to her first LPGA win in her sixth career outing.
Kang, fifth-ranked, who turned 28 on Tuesday, won the LPGA’s first two Covid-19 comeback events in August.
“I have to play a little more aggressive,” Kang said. “Gathering everything and shooting from the beginning will be very important.”
Kang should have been seeking 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.
“I never panicked after the first hole,” McDonald said. “If anything, I could have calmed down just to get that out of the way. But I settled in and I felt very comfortable. I’m happy with what I did. “
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.
McDonald jumped off the edge with a birdie putt at 11 but birdie par 5 at 12 to get to 14 under.
Kang’s tee shot on 16 shot to the right and out of bounds and he needed a 10-foot putt just to rescue the double bogey.
“I pushed him,” Kang said. “I was off by a couple of inches. He was quite upset because he was only a two shot loss minimum. It’s just not the time to do that. “
When McDonald jumped to three feet and sank a par putt at 16, he regained a four-shot lead.
McDonald missed the green on par 3 of 17, barely over the edge with a shot en route to the bogey, while Pagdanganan birdied 17 and 18 for the second solo.
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