Choi edges sizzling Nordqvist for LPGA lead
MOBILE, Alabama (AFP) –
Chella Choi of South Korea hits her tee shot on the fourth hole during round three of the Mobile Bay LPGA Classic at the Crossings Course at the Robert Trent Jones Trail at Magnolia Grove on May 18, 2013 in Mobile, Alabama.
South Korea’s Chella Choi fired a six-under par 66 to seize a one-stroke lead over Sweden’s surging Anna Nordqvist after the third round of the Mobile Bay LPGA Classic.
Choi, seeking her first LPGA title, stood on 17-under 199 after 54 holes with Nordqvist, who fired a course and tournament record 61, and second-round leader Jessica Korda of the United States sharing second on 200.
“Every hole birdie chance because I know my shots,” Choi said. “So I think just confidence and focus on just teeing ground. It’s no problem.”
Australian Hall of Famer Karrie Webb, in search of her 39th career LPGA title, was another shot back on 201 after making her 53rd consecutive cut.
Nordqvist fired 10 birdies and an eagle against a lone bogey to break the day-old course and event mark of 62 set by American Sydnee Michaels.
“Today was a lot of fun,” Nordqvist said. “It’s one of those days where you feel like all your hard work and your patience is paying off. You see yourself with a lot of confidence and know you can do it and believe in yourself.”
Anna Nordqvist of Sweden acknowledges the crowd after tapping in on the 18th green for a new course record of 61 during round three of the Mobile Bay LPGA Classic at the Crossings Course at the Robert Trent Jones Trail at Magnolia Grove on May 18, 2013 in Mobile, Alabama.
Nordqvist, who began the round sharing 27th place, strung together five birdies in a row starting at the par-4 third, taking advantage of both par-5 holes on the front nine in the run.
She began the back nine with back-to-back birdies and added an eagle at the par-5 13th before suffering her first bogey in 30 holes at the par-3 14th.
But Nordqvist responded with three birdies in a row, a run that finished at the par-3 17th, and parred to complete her sensational round, a career-best by four strokes and the lowest fired by any LPGA player this season.
Choi, who hit every fairway and missed only two greens in regulation, birdied the par-5 fourth, par-4 fifth and par-5 sixth holes for the second day in a row before taking only her second bogey of the event at the par-4 ninth.
She bounced back with another run of three birdies in a row, a string concluded at the par-5 13th, and added another at the par-5 16th to take the lead in a week where she has had enough confidence to look a leaderboards.
“I never before this week because if I see leaderboard, (I get) a little bit nervous or like I don’t have confidence,” Choi said. “So this week I started just to look at the leaderboard, every hole watching leading score, so I think much better mentally than before.”
Korda, out for the past two weeks with a wrist injury, and Hall of Famer Webb each fired 69s.
Korda, whose lone career victory came in the 2012 Women’s Australian Open, took a bogey at the par-3 second but answered with a birdie on the next hole and birdied the sixth before closing the front side with back-to-back birdies.
The 20-year-old American stumbled back with a bogey at the 11th and a double bogey at the par-4 12th, although she pulled the strokes back with a birdie at the 13th and an eagle at the 16th.
Webb birdied three of the first six holes before taking her first bogey since the second hole of the first round at the par-4 seventh, but she followed with another birdie at the 16th to stay in the hunt.
American Jennifer Johnson was fifth on 202, one stroke ahead of compatriots Stacy Lewis and Michaels. A group on 204 included Americans Nicole Castrale and Lexi Thompson, South Korean Ji Eun-Hee and Thailand’s Ariya Jutanugarn.