Lydia Ko & Stacy Lewis Knocking On The Door in Singapore
Inbee Park put that steady, consistent, down-the-middle-and-into-the-cup game to work for a 2nd time on Saturday in Singapore, carded a flawless 3rd round 68 at the HSBC Women’s Champions, and held on to the top of the leaderboard. Lydia Ko and Stacy Lewis did the same and with shared low rounds of the day, 67s, pulled into the 2nd slot on the board. Sunday’s going to bring a magnificent 3-way shootout between the top three players in the world!
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Even with Park, Ko and Lewis holding the top of the leaderboard, however, the Women’s Champions isn’t a runaway. Azahara Munoz, Anna Nordqvist and Suzann Pettersen going into the final round at 9-under and trailing Park by 4 shots. Add these three to the mix and the likelihood of a Sunday Surprise is very high.
Park, Ko and Lewis captured an abundance of 3rd round birdies, 16 among the Top Three. The only bogey went on Lewis’s card. The huge undulating Sentosa greens may have met their match with this trio, and if Sunday is a replay of Saturday, the Champion of the Champions is going to be decided with flat sticks.
Winning back-to-back tournaments, as Lydia Ko has done now with victories at the Women’s Australian Open and then the Women’s New Zealand Open, is exhausting and relatively rare. Making it three in a row requires Herculean mental and physical stamina, or the resilience of a 17-year old. Ko certainly looked up to the challenge as she made her way around the Sentosa track on Saturday.
Stacy Lewis. Mandatory Credit: Andrew Weber-USA TODAY Sports
Neither Inbee Park nor Stacy Lewis is a push-over, however. They’re both seasoned competitors, know how to pace themselves, know when to take the risky shot and when to play it safe. They’re both superb golf tacticians, as are all the players coming into the final Women’s Champions round on the front page of the leaderboard, although starting Sunday at 7-under and trailing the lead by 6 shots, Ciganda, Jessica Korda and Shanshan Feng are facing a steep uphill climb to the top.
Further Down the Board
Yani Tseng stopped the bleeding and got back under par on Saturday with a 71, but she’s going into the final round at 4-under, as is Hall of Famer Karrie Webb. Their opportunity for a victory will probably have to wait.
Lexi Thompson.
Her first round ace on the par-3 14th didn’t give Lexi Thompson the boost she needed this week. She followed her impressive 1st round 69 with a disastrous 2nd round 75 and then leveled off Saturday with a modest 70. But Thompson’s backed off on her long drives, has consistently struggled to find the fairway off the tee, and is fighting a recalcitrant putter. Thompson needs to get her game under control if she hopes to mount a respectable defense of her title at the Tour’s first Major, the ANA Inspiration (formerly the Kraft Nabisco Championship) next month.
Minjee Lee
And how are the rookies, Minjee Lee and Jing Yang, and the Singaporean amateur Koh Sock Hwee, faring going into the final round? The rookies are well down the board, both at 2-over par and Hwee’s anchoring the bottom of the board with a whopping 16-over par, which only goes to prove what we already know about competitive golf: Course knowledge and technical skill are important but self-confidence and the mental strength to withstand and channel the pressure of competition is absolutely crucial. That final component will come for these three, with time and patience.
Final Round Media Coverage
Golf Channel will provide final round coverage of the Women’s Champions Sunday morning, March 8, 5-7:30am ET and I’ll provide a wrap-up later in the day.