Jennifer Kupcho sank a four-foot birdie putt on the 18th hole to give her and Ally Ewing a one-stroke lead after Saturday’s third round of the LPGA Great Lakes Bay Invitational.
The American duo fired a three-under-par 67 in alternate shot format to stand on 15-under 195 after 54 holes in the pairs event at Michigan’s Midland Country Club.
Teams played alternate shot in the first and third rounds and have four-ball in the second and fourth rounds of the $3-million event.
The Americans combined to birdie the par-four 5th, par-four 10th and par-five 11th holes and answered a bogey at 16 with a birdie on the par-three closing hole.
“The wind was a little gusty and swirly out there,” Ewing said. “Getting in the round at three under felt good.”
Sharing second on 14-under 196 were the South Korean pair of Kang Hae-ji and Kim In-kyung, who shot 65 but missed a share of the lead on a closing bogey, and the duo of China’s Yin Ruoning and Thailand’s Atthaya Thitikul, who overcame a double-bogey at the par-three 4th with birdies on three of the last four holes to shoot 66.
Two off the pace on 13-under 197 were US duo Caroline Inglis and Amanda Doherty and American Auston Kim and Australian Grace Kim.
© Agence France-Presse
