BELLAIRE, Fla. – Emily Christine Pedersen had three birdies in her last five holes at Anika on Saturday for a 6-under 64 and a three-shot lead, but the score was so low that Pederson was stuck in seventh place. Ta. round of the day.
Pedersen must have felt stuck in neutral at Pelican Golf Club. The Dane kept a clean card, made six birdies and still saw players coming at her.
Amy Yang scored 61. Two-time major champion Lilia Vu returned to the game with a 62, with Patti Tavatanakit and Alison Lee matching her scores. The other two players shot 63.
Pedersen drove his No. 16 out of the bunker and onto the fairway, setting his wedge in short range and taking a late breather. And on the 18th, she pulled her pitching wedge, but it got stuck on the slope to the left of the green. She rolled to 6 feet and took her final birdie.
Pedersen was 18-under 192, three shots behind Yang and Vu going into the final round.
She consulted a mental coach who advised Pedersen to lead with more shots at the end of the day than he had at the start.
“It’s just to have something to chase and to focus on what I’m doing and not look at other people,” Pedersen said. “So, that’s what I tried to do. I tried to get more birdies over the weekend than I did the first two days so I could keep chasing even when I was in the lead.”
Pedersen is looking to win his first LPGA Tour title and appears to be in great shape heading into next week’s final LPGA event in Naples on the Florida coast. She joins the Pelicans in 80th place in the race to CME Globe, with only the top 60 advancing.
Vu has no such problems. She is in second place, and although she cannot catch Celine Boutier, who will not play this week, she will remain in that position. But there’s the issue of the LPGA Tour Player of the Year award, which is based on points, and he’s only three points behind Vu.
Boo said she didn’t even think about being named Player of the Year until she won the AIG Women’s Open, her second major tournament of the year.
“Then I started thinking about it and started playing poorly,” Vu said. “So I’m not thinking about anything right now. I’m just trying to play well.”
Tavatanakit was outside the top 60 and was still on the bubble after shooting a 72 in the second round. She came back strong with a score of 62 and is now in the middle of the tournament. Tavatanakit is among six players who are within five strokes of Pederson heading into Sunday.
Lexi Thompson may be playing in her final LPGA round of the year. She shot a 66, but she couldn’t make it up on this day. Thompson, 88th in the race to CME Grove, fell back to eight strokes.
Lydia Ko, who won last year’s season finale and $2 million in prize money, will not return to defense next week. She is 101st with only a 67 and 11 shots left.