YANI TSENG LEADS SAFEWAY CLASSIC BY THREE AFTER ROUND 3

Safeway Classic Presented by Coca-Cola
Columbia Edgewater Country Club
Portland, Oregon
Third-Round Notes and Interviews
FROM THE LPGA TOUR WEBSITE

                                                                 Yani Tseng pictured when she won the Ricoh Women's 
                                                       British Open at Carnoustie in 2011 (Cal Carson Golf Agency).

The signature smile of Rolex Rankings No. 15 Yani Tseng was on full display during the third round of the Safeway Classic Presented by Coca-Cola as the Taiwanese star shot a 9-under 63 to take a three-shot lead with 18 holes to play.
 The former world No. 1 and 15-time LPGA Tour winner carded 11 birdies and two bogeys at Columbia Edgewater Country Club and holds the third-round lead for the first time since the 2012 Kraft Nabisco Championship where she finished third.
This marks the 15th time in her career Tseng has led or co-led after third round. Ten of her 15-career wins have come after leading or co-leading through 54 holes. Rolex Rankings No. 3 Suzann Pettersen (70) and No. 56 Pornanong Phatlum (71) trail Tseng by three shots and are in a tie for second at 15-under par. A group of four players are tied for fourth including Americans Stacy Lewis, Lizette Salas and Morgan Pressel and Sweden’s Anna Nordqvist.
This week marks the 37th start since Tseng has found her way into the winner’s circle at an LPGA event and according to the 24-year old, it has been a long journey in an effort to get back to the top.
“I don't know what is the media center now,” said Tseng. “It's been a long time. I came in here for a while, and it's great to be back in position again, and I just haven't been on this position for a really long time. 
" I was really happy out there and really enjoyed, and the gallery here are awesome and they give us very big support, and I just love every part of the golf out there and really enjoyed every shot.”
Tseng held the No. 1 position in the Rolex Rankings for 109 consecutive weeks until being overtaken by Stacy Lewis at this year’s RR Donnelley LPGA Founders Cup. Since the tournament in March, Tseng has posted only one top-20 finish and has missed the past four out of five cuts. She’ll be playing with close friend Suzann Pettersen in the final round.
“There's no one that I'd rather see playing better and playing well again than Yani,” said Pettersen. “I know she's been through a very rough patch. Like I said to her, she's just got to stay patient. She's too good not to kind of hang tough and be in the game. But it's fun to see, and hopefully we'll play together.”
2013 LPGA Tour rookie Austin Ernst went on an early routing of the track at Columbia Edgewater Country Club and tied the course record with a 10-under 62. She tied Annika Sorenstam (2002- 2nd round) and Beth Daniel (2003- 1st round) for the record and did so playing by herself in the first tee time of the day at 7:30am local time.
Winning power: Tseng will have to fight off plenty winning power in Sunday’s final round as the top of the leaderboard is stacked with players who know how to close out tournaments on Tour. There’s also a mix of hungry young players looking to earn their first LPGA win.
Amongst the top 11 players on the leaderboard heading into Sunday’s final round, the group has 93 wins among them. Four players are shooting for their first LPGA Tour wins including Pornanong Phatlum (T2), Lizette Salas (T4), Sandra Changkija (T8) and Caroline Masson (T8). Karrie Webb (T8) leads the group with 39 career wins.
Uphill battle… Yani Tseng has made 37 starts since she’s last found her way into the winner’s circle at an LPGA event and according to the Taiwan native, it has been a long journey in an effort to get back to the top.
Tseng held the No. 1 position in the Rolex Rankings for 109 consecutive weeks until being overtaken by Stacy Lewis at this year’s RR Donnelley LPGA Founders Cup. Since the tournament in March, Tseng has posted only one top-20 finishes and has missed the past four out of five cuts.
According to the fifth-year LPGA Tour member, the combination of on and off the course battles has left her seeing her golf game slowly deteriorate.
“It's a really long story, but really, I go through lots of things, and my life has been really tough, and it's not just about golf and outside of golf,” said Tseng. “But I feel like everything I've become more mature. I know I didn't have a great result, but as a person I feel like I learned so much with my family and friends and for my life and not just about golf. I learned from this two years.
“So I've been really appreciating everything I got, and for now I really want to just go out there and try to enjoy every shot and try to be like art is. When you're playing a golf course, you feel like every swing you make, it means for your life, not just you're working or something. Now I feel like really appreciative to be out there and to play this sport I really love.”
After a 9-under 63 during the third-round of the Safeway Classic Presented by Coca-Cola to grab ahold of the lead, it looks like the old Tseng has returned. In fact, according to the 15-time LPGA Tour winner she is not only back, but she is back better than ever.
“Yeah, I I’m think much better,” said Tseng. “Even my swing was much better, my attitude on the course is much better, and I think if one day I come back on the top, I think I'll be much better than what I used to.”
Tseng will have longtime friend Suzann Pettersen by her side during tomorrow’s final round as the duo are paired together in Sunday’s final pairing. While Pettersen is looking forward to engaging in a few side bets with Tseng, Pettersen has been in Tseng’s corner every step of the way in the uphill battle back to the top.
“Yeah, I mean, I'd rather there's no one that I'd rather see playing better and playing well again than Yani,” said Pettersen. “I know she's been through a very rough patch. Like I said to her, she's just got to stay patient. She's too good not to kind of hang tough and be in the game. But it's fun to see, and hopefully we'll play together.”
Up for the challenge? After barreling her way up the leaderboard with a 9-under 63 during the third-round of the Safeway Classic Presented by Coca Cola, Anna Nordqvist presented a bit of a challenge to LPGA Chief Communications Officer Kraig Kann, land her a spot as a guest on HGTV. The Swede now calls Orlando, Fla. home and wants to get her kitchen redone with a little help from HGTV.
“Well, we always get questionnaires every year. Kraig Kann is always on, okay, if you could be on one TV show, what would it be,” said Nordqvist. “I always say I have a love for design and interior design, and I love fixing stuff around my house. So I told him that I wanted to redo my kitchen. My dream is actually to get on some HGTV show and get my kitchen redone, so he has a bit of a challenge there.”
Norqvist has always had a knack for design and admitted her favorite subject growing-up was woodwork. While Nordqvist is in the midst of her fourth-year on the LPGA Tour, when days of golf have come to an end, she strives to become a graphic designer.
“Yeah, I mean, if I wouldn't be a golfer I would definitely be a graphic designer,” said Nordqvist. “I love it. Woodwork was probably my favorite subject growing up. You know, it's just fun, scrapbooking and doing stuff around your house and stuff like that has always been an interest of mine. But who knows what the future holds.”
Hot start for Lewis: Rolex Rankings No. 2 Stacy Lewis put herself in a good position to make a run at her fourth LPGA Tour victory of the 2013 season and made the most out of moving day at the Safeway Classic Presented by Coca-Cola. Lewis shot a bogey-free, 7-under 65 on Saturday and hasn’t carded a bogey in all 54 holes of the tournament this week.
“I don't know if I've gotten this far in a tournament doing it,” said Lewis. “I think the only time I thought about it was on 14; I had about a 15 footer for par, and all I was thinking about was I have to make this so I stay bogey free. I know I'm doing it and I realize it, but I'm playing so solid, you're just not even really worried about making a bogey.”
Lewis posted rounds of 67-70 in her first two rounds and jumped from T21 into a tie for fourth with her solid day on Saturday.
“The difference today was I got off to a better start,” said Lewis. “That stretch of five certainly helped a lot. Back nine I hit good shots. I hit a bunch of putts on the edge, made a couple good pars from the trees off the tee. I don't know, I couldn't have gotten a whole lot more out of it, so I'm pretty happy with it.”
Lewis said the round wasn’t a total walk in the park and grinded out pars on the final eight holes. She said she had a little luck on her side and did a good job at missing in the right places.
“It's kind of missing fairways at the right time,” said Lewis. “I think you do it in the right places. I don't know, I mean, I think there is some luck to it because that ball on 18 could have gone on the driving range if it wanted to. Just as soon as I hit it, I asked the trees to throw it out, and it did.”
Lewis has made it clear one of her biggest challenges over the past year has been controlling her emotions and expectations and said the more easy going she tries to be, the better she seems to play.
“I think over the last year it's been my goal of how do you manage expectations, how do you kind of you win tournaments, all of a sudden, you think, gosh, I'll be winning every week,” said Lewis. “So you manage your expectations.
“You don't get quite as upset about those bad rounds. I was upset with yesterday, but I sat on the putting green for an hour and just worked on it, and I knew if I started making a couple early today I'd be fine. I'm maturing a little bit and getting more comfortable in this role, getting more comfortable with people watching. We had crowds following my group all day today, so getting more comfortable with that, too.”
Movin’ on up… In professional golf, Saturdays are typically known as “moving day” and Austin Ernst took full advantage of the opportunity to climb her way up the leaderboard. Playing by herself in the first tee-time of the day, Ernst fired a 10-under 62 which included one bogey and 11 birdies to move from T66 into a tie for 12th
With nobody in front of her, Ernst sped around Columbia Edgewater, playing her third round in less than four hours. After firing a blistering 29 on the front-nine, the former Louisiana State University Tiger had her sights set on a 64.
“It was nice,” said Ernst. “It was fast. I didn't really have time, I guess, to kind of realize what I was doing, too, because you don't really have a lot of time to look at the board or anything like that. I did glance at it a couple times, but I mean, I shot 29 on the front, and my goal score today was 64. 
"Obviously shooting 62 I'm more than happy with that. Now depending on what they do in four hours when they tee off just kind of depends on how many shots I'm out of the lead. But I think now I'm kind of back in the tournament. Definitely more so than I was at the start of the day.”
Ernst finished her third-round just after 10:00 a.m. and her main concern after the round was finishing prior to lunch being serve. While Ernst’s thought immediately raced to lunch, she was relieved to be done and post a good number early.
“Now the pressure is off,” said Ernst. “I just kind of get to wait and see what time I'm playing tomorrow and where I'm at the end of the day. Obviously I think I proved scores can go low today. Some of the pins are accessible but some of them are kind of hard to get to. Out here you just really have to putt well, and that's what I did today.”

Farewell to a legend… This week, the LPGA Tour said farewell to a legend as Sophie Gustafson announced after Saturday’s second-round of the Safeway Classic Presented by Coca-Cola that she would be stepping away from the LPGA.
Gustafson joined the LPGA Tour in 1998 and recorded five career victories. She was also a member of eight European Solheim Cup Teams boasting a record of 13-12-6. While Gustafson’s impressive resume on Tour is hard to ignore, perhaps she is better known for her attitude outside of the ropes.
Gustafson has fought a lifelong battle with stuttering but served as an inspiration to many at the 2011 Solheim Cup when she gave her first-ever TV interview. 
One of the most admirable players on the LPGA Tour, Gustafson was chosen as the 2012 Heather Farr Perseverance Award honoree by the LPGA and the 2012 Ben Hogan Award from the Golf Writers Association of America.
Fellow Swede and teammate on two European Solheim Cup Teams, Anna Nordqvist looked-up to Gustafson strived to follow in the footsteps of Gustafson from the early age of 12. The duo even teamed-up to win the 2011 European Nations Cup for Sweden.
“I mean, Sophie Gustafson was out there when I grew up,” said Nordqvist. “I remember I was probably 12, 13, my family and I would go up to Stockholm to watch her play in a Ladies European Tour event. She's always been a great player for Swedish golf and really kicked off the Swedish era. We had good players to look up to. "I've been fortunate to play with Sophie Gustafson on two Solheim Cups. She just brings out the best in me. Me and Sophie actually won the European Nations Cup together as a two man team in 2010 or 2011, so I sure have a lot of good memories of Sophie.”

Quote of the Day: “Well, definitely all my previous Solheim partners retired, so I guess I'm next on that list.” Suzann Pettersen joking on close friend and European Solheim Cup teammate Sophie Gustafson announcing her LPGA retirement.

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