HEDWALL LEADS BY ONE FROM PETTERSEN AND KO IN CANADA

FROM THE LPGA TOUR WEBSITE
Sweden’s Caroline Hedwall, pictured above, kept her hot play going this week in Edmonton at the CN Canadian Women’s Open and heads into Sunday’s final round with a one-stroke lead over European Solheim Cup teammate Suzann Pettersen and defending champion and 16-year old amateur Lydia Ko.  
Just last week, Hedwall became the first player in Solheim Cup history to go 5-0 in competition and has showed no signs of slowing down.
The 24-year-old Swede shot a 6-under 64 on Saturday which tied the course record at Royal Mayfair Golf Club and pushed her three-day total to 10-under-par 200. It also marks the first time in her career that she has led or co-led after the third round. The former Oklahoma State star said she caught up on rest the first couple days in Canada and tried to take as much momentum from her impressive performance in Colorado into this week.
“I was a little tired on Monday, Tuesday and also Wednesday, but when the tournament starts I think last week just gave me a lot of energy and self‑confidence, so I can't feel anything.” said Hedwall.
Her playing partners, Pettersen (65) and Brittany Lincicome (66) had solid rounds of their own and were two of only five players to shoot 66 or better in the third round on Saturday.
“It was definitely inspiring playing with Suzann and Brittany today,” said Hedwall. “We hit it close and we made a lot of putts, so it was a lot of fun.”
The third-year LPGA Tour pro may have just gotten the boost she’s needed to break into the winner’s circle. She has eight professional wins worldwide on the Ladies European Tour and the Australian Ladies Professional Golf Tour but is still looking for her first LPGA Tour win.
“I'm just looking forward to tomorrow,” said Hedwall. “It will be exciting playing in the last group hopefully.  I won on the European Tour, now I'm just waiting for my first LPGA victory.  We'll see, hopefully it comes tomorrow.”
Hedwall will be paired with Pettersen and Ko for Sunday’s final round. Ko had five birdie and two bogeys in her round of 67 and feels comfortable in the position she put herself in for her title defense.
“I was three shots back from the leader yesterday, and I'm one shot back at the moment, so I'm getting much closer to the leader,” said Ko.  “I played pretty well out there.  I made five birdies and two bogeys.  I was overall really happy, and I was 8‑under coming into the final round last year, so one shot better, which leaves me in a good place.”
Rolex Rankings No. 1 Inbee Park held a share of the second-round lead but dropped down the leaderboard after a 4-over 74 on Saturday and currently sits six shots off the lead in a T15. She had one birdie, three bogeys and a double bogey on the par-3 11th hole. The South Korean will have her work cut out for her on Sunday to claim her seventh LPGA Tour victory in 2013.
“Just the overall day, everything seemed like it didn't go the right way,” said Park. “It wasn't that bad of drives, but it just ended up in the rough, and you really have no shot from the rough.  I was putting, and nothing really wanted to go in.  I burned a lot of edges.  Just one of those kind of days.  We still have tomorrow.”
No Solheim Slowdown here…There was plenty of talk about the fatigue that some players may be feeling after last week’s Solheim Cup. But there certainly hasn’t been any sign of that impacting their play this week at the CN Canadian Women’s Open.
A total of 13 players who took part in the Solheim Cup last week sit in the top-20 heading into Sunday’s final round.  That number includes seven players from the U.S. Team and six from Europe.
“I just feel like from a general standpoint usually coming off of Solheim where your mindset is such an aggressive mode that you usually feed off pretty well the following week because you kind of keep wanting to make putts,” said European Solheim Cup Team member Suzann Pettersen. “ You're kind of in that kind of frame of mind.  This is why we work at it, this is why we train.  I'm totally fine.  I'm not tired at all.”
Red hot draw: If the only scores that a person saw Saturday at the CN Canadian Women’s Open were from the grouping of Brittany Lincicome, Caroline Hedwall and Suzann Pettersen, then that person would likely believe that scoring conditions were easy at Royal Mayfair Golf Club.
At least it would appear that way with the three players combining to shoot 15-under-par in Saturday’s third round.
The trio moved their way up the leaderboard thanks to unbelievable scoring day for all of them. Hedwall led the group with her 6-under 64, which tied the course record. Pettersen followed with a 5-under 65 and Lincicome tallied a 4-under 66.
“I shot 66 today and got beat badly by these two,” Lincicome said with a laugh. “Even from the first hole, from the very start of the day we were draining birdies, and I kind of was making my own little inside jokes about our group.  We were 8‑under after 8, 9‑under after 9, and kind of playing match play with everyone else.”
Just how impressive was the play of the trio? Only two other players in the field on Saturday shot 66 or lower – Yani Tseng (66) and I.K. Kim (65).
So what was the key to the successful play of this particular group?
“I think we're all very comfortable with the pairing,” said Pettersen. “ Nice to play with aggressive players to kind of keep wanting it and kind of keep attacking the pins, like towards the end where you can get a bit tired and a bit worn out.  But I think we all played very good today, and it would be nice to come down the stretch battling Caroline and Lincicome tomorrow.”
Annika-esque? Caroline Hedwall became the first player in Solheim Cup history to go 5-0 and earn five points for a team in one playing of the event. It certainly was a prestigious accomplishment and one made even better by the fact that Hedwall earned the point that ensured that the Europeans would retain the Cup.
Hedwall said that her accomplishment is drawing big attention in her native Sweden, but for a reason that many might not immediately expect.
“I've heard back in Sweden it's been pretty big, since not even Annika could do that,” Hedwall said. “That's what we have to do; we have to beat Annika to get any attention in Sweden. I mean, it was a lot of fun, and I was just happy that I could win my five points.”
Back-to-back? Lydia Ko became the youngest winner in LPGA history at last year’s CN Canadian Women’s Open and now she could become the first player in nearly two years to successfully defend her title on the LPGA Tour.
Ko, 16, finds herself just one shot back of leader Caroline Hedwall heading into Sunday’s final round at Royal Mayfair Golf Club in Edmonton. It’s a pretty good performance for an amateur, who is facing the pressure of coming to the event as a defending champion.
“It feels really good,” Ko said of her performance this week. “I've been liking Canada so far.  You never know what's going to happen tomorrow, but up until now I'm pleased with where I am, just one shot back, and you never know what's going to happen.”
Ko delivered her third straight round under par on Saturday, shooting 67 to move into a tie for second at 9-under-par with Suzann Pettersen. 
The last player on the LPGA Tour to capture victories in the same event in consecutive years was Yani Tseng, who won the RICOH Women’s British Open in 2010 and 2011.
Ace alert! Eun-Hee Ji carded the second hole-in-one this week with an ace on the par 3 4th hole. She holed out from 145 yards with a 7-iron. Cristel Boeljon had her own on the 16th hole in Thursday’s first round.
Tweet of the Day: “Well that was fun @cnwomensopen. I shot 66 today @suzannpettersen shot 65 and Caroline Hedwall shot 64. WOW. These girls are good @lpga.” -- @Brittany1golf

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