Evian Championship 3rd Round Upsets & Sunday Set-Ups

Moving Day at the Evian Championship involved one challenge after another. Korean-LPGA star Hyo Joo Kim, who held the overnight lead after Thursday’s first round, is back at the top of the leaderboard at 8-under par and going into Sunday’s final round with a 1-stroke lead over Karrie Webb. The Aussie Hall of Famer has played a steady game for 54 holes, managing to avoid the snarls and stumbles that befell others in the field. Brittany Lincicome, who started Saturday with a 2-stroke lead, wasn’t so fortunate. She had a rough start on Saturday and then things got worse. Still, the top of the board is fluid and with 11 players starting within five strokes of Kim’s tenuous lead, the Evian Championship is still an open tournament going into Sunday’s final round.

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Through most of Saturday’s round it seemed as though the golf course was winning. Windy conditions in the afternoon and some challenging pin placements provided a tough test for the field at Evian Resort Golf Club. Balls went in the water.

Bubba Watson probably would have complained that the course was too hard, but the women just doubled down and stayed at it. As a tournament official scurried across the green to oversee the process, Mariajo Uribe peeled off her shoes and socks and waded into one of the hazards to hit her ball out and onto the green. High numbers popped up on the scoreboard throughout the day and provided plenty of movement up and down the leaderboard.

Lincicome’s Challenge

Second-round leader Brittany Lincicome stumbled through her first 2 holes on Saturday with two double bogeys, seemed to get her rhythm, but then scored a triple on the par 5 7th hole. Lincicome tried to regoup at the turn but zeroed out three birdies with three bogies on the back nine to finish with a 6-over 77. dropping her back into a tie for 6th place.

Brittany Lincicome

"Just looking at the leaderboard obviously one player is doing really, really well, and then there are a couple others that are fairly close to me . . . If I can shoot what I shot yesterday or the day before that tomorrow, I feel like it should put me back in the hunt."

Lincicome has been playing great golf as of late and is hunting her first LPGA title since the 2011 CN Canadian Women’s Open and her second career major (2009 Kraft Nabisco Championship).

She came heartbreakingly close at the LPGA Championship, losing as much to her own inner demons as to Inbee Park’s laser-sharp putting. She’ll have another shot at victory Sunday.

Webb’s In Position

While Lincicome’s going to try to claw her way back up the board on Sunday, Karrie Webb is already in position to claim her 8th Major title at Evian. With rounds of 65, 71 & 70 on the board, Webb is 7-under par for the tournament, trailing Kim’s lead by a single stroke. And Webb would much rather go into Sunday chasing the lead than defending it.

Webb’s currently tied with Juli Inkster, who also holds 7 Major titles. With a win at Evian, Webb would move up into a tie Betsey Rawls, who also won 8 Majors.

Webb has two victories already this season but both came in her first four starts of 2014. Her performances in majors haven’t been dazzling; her best finish was a T11 at the Kraft Nabisco and finished T25 or worse in the other three.

Still, Webb’s the only player in LPGA Tour history to win titles at five different majors, completing the Super Career Grand Slam when she won the 2002 Weetabix Women’s British Open. If she wins on Sunday, she would have wins at six different majors. When asked what she thinks the feat could be called, the veteran said ask her on Sunday if she has the trophy in her hands.

"It’s been a while, since the start of the year really that I’ve has a legitimate chance to win a tournament . . . So I feel good about where I’ve put myself. Proud of my scrambling the last couple days. Hopefully I’ve got a bit more of those in me tomorrow."

Other Contenders

Sunday scores will depend as much on weather and pin placement as on ball striking and management of emotions. There’s no shortage of challengers who are more than capable of delivering a coup de grace in the form of a 6-under par round: Lydia Ko and Na Yeon Choi are starting Sunday at 4-under, trailing Kim’s lead by four strokes. And directly below them, Stacy Lewis, Inbee Park and Suzann Pettersen are all starting Sunday at 3-under, 5 strokes off the lead and fully prepared to take advantage of every opportunity that comes their way.

Sunday Schedule

Play begins Sunday morning at 7:30am local time (1:30am ET). The final group, Kim and Webb, tees off at 1:20pm local time (7:20am ET). For US & Canadian fans, Golf Channel coverage of the Sunday round begins at 8am ET and runs until noon, then shifts over to NBC from noon-1:30pm.

My colleagues and I at ProGolfNow will continue to provide you with ongoing commentary and updates on the Evian Championship and other women’s pro golf news and events Follow me on Twitter @bethbethel and I’ll notify you when I post commentary.

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