South Korea also has two others in the top 10 though Round 3.
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Chun In-gee of South Korea reacts to a bunker shot on the fifth hole during the third round of the Rio de Janeiro Olympic women’s golf tournament on August 19, 2016. Pieters was fourth last week in the Rio Olympics.
The pair both picked up a stroke at the 10th, with Hull’s coming from 20 feet, before Park saw her lead grow to three strokes when Piller bogeyed the 12th. She sits tied for 10th at 4 under for the week, five shots back in the race for bronze.
“To be able to stand there on that podium is nearly more than what you could have imagined”, she said. If I can really just focus on what I’m doing at hand, your mind is going to wander, and I think that it’s the way you handle it and how you receive that information.
“I played aggressive golf there, and it really worked good”, Park said.
Starting with that pitch to tap-in range, she birdied two straight holes and shot a 1-under 70 to take a two-shot lead into the final round.
Now comes the real test.
Just as hard as the 30-mph gusts was seeing the name of Lydia Ko right behind her. The 19-year-old Kiwi made all pars on the back nine when the wind arrived and shot 65. I finished with a bogey, but you know, overall, I like my position where I’m out and I like where my game is.
“It was a much better day today”. And my putting has been great for the last couple weeks and months. Despite carding a disappointing three-over 74, the Englishwoman will feel she still has a shot at a medal.
“But I’ve never been able to represent my country in the Olympic games”, added the former resident of Las Vegas and graduate of Bishop Gorman High School. The Solheim Cup star posted a three-under par, 68 on Friday to move into medal contention in hopes of standing atop the podium on Saturday, which would be the highlight of Piller’s career.
The 28-year-old South Korean finally got her putter going, and she’s among the best in women’s golf on the greens. She returned a level par 71 and lies in joint 22nd place, at 3 under.
Those two late birdies helped alleviate one final mistake. This despite making a double-bogey 5 on the 14th hole and a bogey on the par-4 seventh.
Park last played a LPGA event in early June, where she missed the cut at the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship.
“I just gave my body a good rest and I tried to gather a lot of things mentally”.
Team GB’s Charley Hull is three-under with compatriot Catriona Matthew, the 2009 RICOH Women’s British Open champion, on level-par. Brooke Henderson of Canada, the No. 2 player in women’s golf, struggled even more. “Today she was back to normal”. She figures to be a big part of the final two rounds the way she has kept the ball in play. Ko was stunned to hear the cheering when it dropped in.
Ko came out on fire on the front nine, posting a 6-under 29 including a hole-in-one on the par-3 8th hole.
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Stacy Lewis went backward. She began the day a shot out of the lead but shot 76.
