Teenager Lydia Ko is within sight of a haul of big prizes, two strokes from the lead after the third round at the CME Group Tour Championship in Florida on Saturday.
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Americans Jennifer Song (69) and Cristie Kerr (69) were another shot off the pace, and Icher was in a group that also included Gerina Piller (70) and Brittany Lincicome (70) of the U.S.in a tie for fifth at 6 under.
The 18-year-old pulled it together on her two closing holes with consecutive birdies to finish with a 5-under 67 and an 8-under total. At 18, she became the youngest to win Rolex Player of the Year and the money title; she already is the youngest to win on tour, the youngest to win a major and the youngest No. 1. To overtake Ko, Park would have needed to finish third or better.
“What triggered it more is what a tough day it was”, she said. She again claims the US$1 million (NZ$1.5m) for winning that.
Ko has to beat Park by two strokes to win the Vare Trophy, which goes to the lowest scoring average. Lexi Thompson was fourth at 14 under. After returning to the tour last week following a six-week break to mend an ailing back, Kerr was on from the get-go, firing rounds of 68-69-66-68 behind brilliant drives, iron play and her putter.
That ended up being the difference as Kerr was 17-under for the tournament while Ha Na Jang was 16-under and finished in a tie for second.
“I drove it pretty well today”, said Ernst, an American who hit 17 greens.
South Korean Jang, hunting her first title on the US circuit after ending up second three times this year, birdied four of her first six holes before finishing birdie-birdie for a seven-under-par 65 in the $2 million event at Tiburon Golf Club.
The tournament was realistically gone when she turned at even-par after a bogey and birdie on the front nine.
“Yeah, definitely watched the leaderboard a couple times when I’m playing”, she told reporters after the round. “I think it could have been worse”.
“There’s a few times I really wanted to maybe quit golf and live a normal life. I didn’t know if sixth place was good enough or whatever”, she said afterward.
High Performance Manager at New Zealand Golf, Gregg Thorpe commented on Ko’s win with a beaming smile.
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However, she failed to capitalise on a number of birdie chances, sitting tantalisingly out of reach of the lead and leaving the fate of the mammoth points prize in limbo throughout the day.
