KirkwoodGolf

Friday, October 05, 2007

SAMANTHA HEAD LOOKING GOOD FOR LPGA
FINAL Q SCHOOL BUT KIRAN NEEDS A
SUB-70 FINISH TO HAVE A CHANCE

England's Samantha Head shot a third-round three-under-par 69 to consolidate her position in the leading six going into the fourth and final round of the LPGA Sectional Qualifying School at Plantation Golf & Country Club, Venice in Florida.
On four-under-par 212, Samantha is well placed to make the top 30 who, after Friday's final round, will advance to the Final Q School at Daytona Beach.
Compatriot Kiran Matharu is not so well placed. She is tied for 51st place on 223 although her third-round 73 was her best score so far this week and she could yet make it if she can have a fourth-round score in the sub-70 category.
Na-Yeon Choi of South Korea leads for the third consecutive round following a 71 to be in the pole position on eight-under-par 208. Compatriot Hee Young Park trails Choi by two shots after firing a 4-under-par 68 in the third round. Park is 6-under-par 210 after three rounds.
Choi led by three shots following the second round and held that lead through the front-nine on Thursday, where she played bogey-free golf with two birdies, including a 20-foot birdie putt on hole number 3. She had birdies on holes 8 and 14, but bogies on holes 10 and 16 dropped her to 1-under 71 (67-70-71=208) for the day, two shots ahead of fellow South Korean Park.
“I didn't play bad today,” said Choi, following the round. “It was a steady day.”
The 19-year-old Choi has won on the Korean LPGA once in each of her four years on the tour, including a three-stroke victory two weeks ago at the Shinsegye Cup KLPGA Championship.
“I have led since the first round, but I don't want to concentrate on winning,” said Choi. “I don't want to think about being on top. I just want to try some things.”
Park, who was fifth entering the third round, carded birdies on holes 4, 7 and 8 with a bogey on hole 5 to make the turn at 2-under for the day. She had birdies on holes 10, 13 and 14 with a bogey on 13 to finish the day at 4-under 68 (69-73-68=210).
“I didn't think about (getting to) 6-under, I just try to shoot under par,” said the 20-year-old Park. “I had a good putter today and lots of confidence.”
Park has played the LPGA's South Korean tournament every year since 2004. In 2005, she finished tied for fourth when the tournament was called the CJ Nine Bridges Classic. That same year, she was named Rookie of the Year on KLPGA. Park has three victories since joining the tour. She is fifth on the 2007 KLPGA ADT CAPS Money List following three second place finishes in 11 events.
“I just try to play safely tomorrow to get on to the final stage,” said Park. “Winning tomorrow doesn't matter to me because the top-30 make it.”
Anna Grzebien of Rhode Island and Angie Hill of Ohio are tied for third place at 5-under-par 211, three-strokes off the lead.Grzebien, the 2005 NCAA Division I Women's Golf Individual Champion, used two birdies and a bogey to shoot 1-under 71 (71-69-71=211) in the third round. The 2007 Duke graduate was tied for second entering the third round. This is the 22-year-old's first attempt at qualifying for the LPGA Tour.
Hill, a co-medalist at the Venice qualifier in 2006, was 2-over-par through 14 holes before making birdies on holes 15, 17 and 18, where she rolled in a 50-foot birdie putt to move to 1-under 71 (68-72-71=211) for the day. The 2006 Southern Conference Player of the Year at the College of Charleston, Hill played 19 events with 11 cuts made on the Duramed Futures Tour in 2007.
The top-30 players and ties at the end of 72 holes will advance to the LPGA Final Qualifying Tournament at LPGA International in Daytona Beach, Fla., Nov. 28-Dec. 2. The Venice qualifier is the second of the LPGA Tour's two sectional qualifying events in 2007. The first was at Mission Hills Country Club in Rancho Mirage, Calif., two weeks ago. The top-30 finishers and ties from each qualifier join current LPGA Tour members attempting to improve their status and the players who finished sixth through 15th on the final 2007 Duramed Futures Tour money list at the LPGA Final Qualifying Tournament.

LEADING THIRD-ROUND TOTALS
Par 216 (3 x 72)
208 Na-Yeon Choi (SKor) 67 70 71.
210 Hee Young Park (SKor) 69 73 68.
211 Angie Hill 68 72 71, Anna Grzebien 71 69 71.
212 Sandra Gal (Ger) (am) 72 71 69.
213 Samantha Head (Eng) 71 73 69.
214 Mo Martin 73 71 70.
215 Sofie Andersson (Swe) 71 72 72.
Other totals:
218 Leah Hart (Aus) 73 67 78 (jt 18th).
220 Rachel Bailey (Aus) 70 76 74, Gwladys Nocera (Fra) 74 74 72, Nikki Garrett (Aus) 73 75 72, Sarah Kemp (Aus) 76 70 74 (jt 29th).
223 Kiran Matharu (Eng) 74 76 73 (jt 51st).

Labels: