Saturday’s Third-round Recap
Sweden’s Caroline Hedwall kept her hot play going this week in Edmonton at the CN Canadian Women’s Open and heads into Sunday’s final round with a one-stroke lead over European Solheim Cup teammate Suzann Pettersen and defending champion and 16-year old amateur Lydia Ko. Just last week, Hedwall became the first player in Solheim Cup history to go 5-0 in competition and has showed no signs of slowing down.
The 24-year-old Swede shot a 6-under 64 on Saturday which tied the course record at Royal Mayfair Golf Club and pushed her three-day total to 10-under-par 200. It also marks the first time in her career that she has led or co-led after the third round. The former Oklahoma State star said she caught up on rest the first couple days in Canada and tried to take as much momentum from her impressive performance in Colorado into this week.
“I was a little tired on Monday, Tuesday and also Wednesday, but when the tournament starts I think last week just gave me a lot of energy and self‑confidence, so I can't feel anything.” said Hedwall.
Her playing partners, Pettersen (65) and Brittany Lincicome (66) had solid rounds of their own and were two of only five players to shoot 66 or better in the third round on Saturday.
“It was definitely inspiring playing with Suzann and Brittany today,” said Hedwall. “We hit it close and we made a lot of putts, so it was a lot of fun.”
The third-year LPGA Tour pro may have just gotten the boost she’s needed to break into the winner’s circle. She has eight professional wins worldwide on the Ladies European Tour and the Australian Ladies Professional Golf Tour but is still looking for her first LPGA Tour win.
“I'm just looking forward to tomorrow,” said Hedwall. “It will be exciting playing in the last group hopefully. I won on the European Tour, now I'm just waiting for my first LPGA victory. We'll see, hopefully it comes tomorrow.”
Hedwall will be paired with Pettersen and Ko for Sunday’s final round. Ko had five birdie and two bogeys in her round of 67 and feels comfortable in the position she put herself in for her title defense.
“I was three shots back from the leader yesterday, and I'm one shot back at the moment, so I'm getting much closer to the leader,” said Ko. “I played pretty well out there. I made five birdies and two bogeys. I was overall really happy, and I was 8‑under coming into the final round last year, so one shot better, which leaves me in a good place.”
Rolex Rankings No. 1 Inbee Park held a share of the second-round lead but dropped down the leaderboard after a 4-over 74 on Saturday and currently sits six shots off the lead in a T15. She had one birdie, three bogeys and a double bogey on the par-3 11th hole. The South Korean will have her work cut out for her on Sunday to claim her seventh LPGA Tour victory in 2013.
“Just the overall day, everything seemed like it didn't go the right way,” said Park. “It wasn't that bad of drives, but it just ended up in the rough, and you really have no shot from the rough. I was putting, and nothing really wanted to go in. I burned a lot of edges. Just one of those kind of days. We still have tomorrow.”
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