Park, Thompson sharpest at Shootout

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May 3, 2015

Inbee Park and Lexi Thompson will tee off in the final group for the last round of the North Texas Shootout on Sunday after opening a narrow lead in round three.

Thompson fired a three-under 68 while Park carded a 69 to take their scores to nine-under and grab a shared lead.

Karrie Webb, Angela Stanford and Brooke Henderson are tied for third and trailing by a shot, after respective rounds of 64, 67 and 71 on Saturday.

While Christie Kerr and Hee Young Park are tied for sixth on seven-under after carding 69 and 70 respectively.

“The leaderboard is very stacked right now, so I’m expecting low scores,” Thompson told the LPGA Tour website.

“But really I’m just going to focus on my game and doing my routine on every shot, focus one shot at a time and not focus on anybody else.”

Thompson had 88 putts in her first three rounds, and said she would practice putting ahead of the final round.

The American is bidding to win her fifth LPGA Tour crown, while Park is attempting to win her second title at this event, her second of the year and the 14th of her career.

“There’s a lot of contenders out there (who are) within like two shots,” she said.

“Whoever plays well (on Sunday) is going to win, so I definitely need to play aggressively and score well to win. I think it’ll take three or more to win. I need to definitely improve myself.”

Meanwhile, Henderson will go into Sunday’s final round with the opportunity to rewrite several passages in the history books.

The 17-year-old, who had to qualify for the tournament because of her age, could become the third ever player to win a tour event before turning 18.

She could also become the first qualifier to win since 2000 and the first Canadian to win since 2001.

Henderson lead in the final round of last week’s Swinging Skirts Classic, but finished third behind winner Lydia Ko and runner-up Morgan Pressel.

“I like where I am right now. I would have liked the lead – can’t go wrong with that. But I think I really like the position one back and 18 holes,” she said.

“I hit it pretty well. I made a couple of mistakes and just a few putts on the back nine I wish I would have made. But I’m still in good position, and I didn’t play that well, and I’m still right there.”

Defending champion Stacy Lewis is tied for eighth on five-under with Natalie Gulbis and Hyo Joo Kim.

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