Lydia Ko birdied the 18th hole to take a one-shot lead over Eun Hee Ji and Sung Hyun Park into the final round of the 71st U.S. Women’s Open Championship.
“No matter what position I’m in, always to finish with a birdie on the last hole is a lot of good memories,” Ko said. “I think I tried to stay patient and calm out there today. I think that’s the key around here. The key around major championships is that sometimes a par is a good score and you have to walk off and forget about the bad and focus about the shot you have in front of you.”
Being in the mix on Sunday at a major is nothing new for Ko as the 19-year-old will be playing in the final group for the third time in the last four majors. The only time Ko wasn’t in the final group in these four events was at the ANA Inspiration where she was in the penultimate group.
| Tournament | Heading Into Sunday | Finish |
|---|---|---|
| 2016 U.S. Women's Open | 1 | TBD |
| 2016 KPMG Women's PGA Championship | 1 | 2 |
| 2016 ANA Inspiration | 2 | 1 |
| 2015 Evian Championship | 3 | 1 |
Ko has never won a major when sleeping on the 54-hole lead, failing to do so in her only attempt this year at the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship where she lost in a playoff. Despite this fact, Ko has tallied a solid success rate on Tour when holding the lead entering Sunday as she has won five of the 10 times.
SUNG HYUN PARK’S NUMBERS EERILY SIMILAR TO IN GEE CHUN’S FROM 2015
Sung Hyun Park finds herself in a similar position to what 2015 U.S. Women’s Open champion In Gee Chun found herself entering the final round of the Championship last year. Below is a comparison of the two:
| In Gee Chun (2015) | Sung Hyun Park (2016) | |
|---|---|---|
| Age | 20 | 22 |
| Rolex Rankings | 20 | 18 |
| Position Entering Final Round | 3 | T2 |
| LPGA Starts (including U.S. Women's Open) | 8 | 5 |
| LPGA Cuts Made (including U.S. Women's Open) | 8 | 5 |
| LPGA Top-10 Finishes | 1 | 3 |
| Best LPGA Finish | T2 (2014 KEB HanaBank) | T2 (2015 KEB HanaBank) |
| KLPGA Wins | 7 | 7 |
EUN HEE JI LOOKS FOR ANOTHER U.S. WOMEN’S OPEN TITLE
Eu Hee Ji will round out the final group tomorrow and while her fellow playing partners Lydia Ko and Sung Hyun Park can claim more recent success only Ji will be announced on the first tee as a past U.S. Women’s Open Champion.
“You know, I’m not trying to see the leaderboard. I’m trying to focus on my game and trying to be patient more,” Ji said. “And tomorrow like same thing as today, trying to hit the fairway more and green, middle of the green, and trying to make a putt a lot.”
Since her win at Saucon Valley, Ji has finished no better than T27 at the 2011 U.S. Women’s Open at The Broadmoor.
DEJA VU
Lee Lopez made a hole-in-one on the par-3, 12th hole with a 4-iron from 202 yards on Saturday at the U.S. Women’s Open.
“People started going oooh and then the huge cheer just went up,” Lopez explained. “So we didn’t see it go in. I think we were -- I hit a 4-iron, I was 195 to the pin, 167. So we were just playing to that to the front of the green, downwind left to right.”
Last season at Lancaster Country Club, Lopez also made an ace with a 6-iron from 156 on the sixth during her third round.
“To be honest with you, this is only technically my second,” Lopez said of her ace on Saturday. “Last year being my first, but I did have a hole-in-one when I was 11 years old at this little par-3 course. Everybody says that doesn’t count, but in my opinion that counts.”
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