AMERICAN OPENS DOORS FOR RIVALS WITH A 71

PACE JOINS DIAZ IN THIRD-ROUND 

LEAD AT LPGA MARATHON CLASSIC

FROM THE GOLFWEEK WEBSITE
American Laura Diaz is still in the pole position but now she is sharing it on 11-under-par 202 with South African Lee-Anne Pace after three days at the LPGA's Marathon Classic
With her first round of the competition in the 70s, a third-round, par-matching  71, Laura has opened the door to the rest of the leaders at Sylvania, Ohio.
Diaz opened par-par-birdie before a double bogey at the fourth, driven by a penalty for moving her ball, seemed costly. 

After running off four straight pars, however, she erased the double bogey with an eagle 2 on Highland Meadows' driveable par-4 ninth. "The way I look at golf is you don't get strokes back – we start a round and we add strokes to our scorecard on every hole," Diaz said. "I think that it was nice to have a two instead of a three our four on 9.
"I got the right kick on my tee shot. By the way the crowd reacted, I could tell that it was close. It's always nice to make eagles and give one for the Wounded Warriors."
While Diaz looks for her first LPGA win since 2002, Pace seeks her first win on the tour. The South African recovered from back-to-back bogeys at Nos. 11-12 with birdies at Nos. 13-14. She scattered three other birdies throughout her round for a 68.
"All in all, I would like to have a good finish. Am I going to go for the win? Yes, of course I'm going to push for that," Pace said. 
"At the end of the day you never can tell who will win. There are a lot the factors involved in that. I'll just try and do my best."
Jaye Marie Green and So Yeon Ryu are a shot back of the co-leaders on 203, Green having shot the round of the day with a 63.
 Lydia Ko is another shot back at 9 under 204, followed by a pack of six players at 205 that includes new Ricoh Women's British Open champion Mo Martin and Cristie Kerr.
World No. 1 Stacy Lewis rose to 5 under and T-23 with a 68, her first sub-70 round of the week. Kraft Nabisco Championship winner Lexi Thompson is another shot back after a 66, also her best round of the week.
– ASAP Sports contributed

THIRD-ROUND LEADERBOARD
Par 213 (3x71)
202 Lee-Anne Pace (S Africa) 66 68 68, Laura Diaz (USA) 62 69 71
203 Jaye-Marie Green (USA) 72 68 63, So Yeon Ryu (S Korea) 68 67 68
204 Lydia Ko (NZ) 67 67 70

SELECTED SCORE
216 Jodi Ewart Shadoff (England) 71 71 73 (T70)

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