Ginn Open – 3rd Round

Once again Lorena Ochoa and Laura Davies matched scores – each carding a 70 – to remain tied for the lead at -14 entering the final round of the Ginn Open. Brittany Lincicome and Natalie Gulbis are tied for third at -10 four shots back with Se Ri Pak alone in fifth at -9.

Both Ochoa and Davies got as low as -15 early on the back nine. Davies took double-bogey on 13 when her tee shot went way right into some bushes. Bobby Clampett quickly second-guessed Davies for hitting driver off of her customary pushed-up-turf tee instead of using a regular tee, but after twenty-plus years of professional golf Laura Davies probably knows how to hit that shot. Players mis-hit off of regular tees, too. Davies then bogeyed 14 to momentarily drop three back, until Ochoa missed a makeable par putt. Lorena then bogeyed 16 and Laura birdied 17 to tie them up again. Both players finished with birdie on 18 to give them the four shot cushion over third place. When Davies faltered, I got visions of an Ochoa runaway but now it looks like tomorrow’s heads-up match should be pretty exciting.

Lincicome rang up her second round of 67 this week to move up the board. Gulbis bogeyed the first two holes and came back nicely, but had to settle for 71. Pak’s 68 shows she still has ideas about winning this thing. 2004 US Open champ Birdie Kim shared Round Of The Day honors with Karrie Webb, both players carding 66s. Birdie is at -7 and Karrie is at -4. Defending Ginn champion Mi Hyun Kim slipped to a 73, dropping her to -6.

Bill Macatee is fine, but he’s no Verne Lundquist (darn it!). Beth Daniel does a good job calling the action but her on-camera moments look uncomfortable. I’m hoping she gets used to the camera as she gets more experience. One of the on-course commentators was Lisa Mickelson, whom I’ve never heard of but she seemed to know her stuff.