Tight at the top at Thornberry Creek

Doug Mattushek
July 7, 2019

There is a four-way tie at the top as the Thornberry Creek LPGA Classic heads into the final round on Sunday.

World number one Sung Hyun Park, Shanshan Feng, Tiffany Joh and Ariya Jutanugarn all share a one shot after an entertaining round at the Oneida course. Another six players are within four shots of the lead, including American tour rookie Yealimi Noh, who is alone in fifth on 19 under.

But it could have all been so different.

Park – who shot into the lead with a sizzling nine under 62 on Friday – was in cruise control once again, rolling in seven birdies in 11 holes to move three shots clear of the field. However, the South Korean found the water on the par five 15th and would end up carding a double bogey. Clearly shaken, she bogeyed the next hole and her lead had evaporated.

#MovingDay was full of low scores and left us with a packed leaderboard heading into the final round of the @thornberrylpga.

HIGHLIGHTS ⬇️ pic.twitter.com/lb7pS6Iwp6

— LPGA (@LPGA) 7 July 2019

“The swings weren’t that good,” Park told lpga.com.

“The play on the green wasn’t good, as well. But I’m relieved that today was just the third round, and I look forward to tomorrow’s round.

“The third round wasn’t my best round, but I am still at the top of the leaderboard and there is still a chance for me to do well tomorrow. Although the leaderboard is crowded, I’ll try my best tomorrow and focus on every single shot.”

Jutanugarn also had chance to earn the lead, but uncharacteristically missed a four footer for par late in her round to settle for a 67. Nonetheless, the Thai star knows she is far from out of it.

“I feel like everyone can shoot like 10 under tomorrow, so I don’t know,” the world number nine told reporters.

Ariya Jutanugarn LPGA Tour News