Rohanna shoots 78 in third round
If one bad apple can ruin the whole batch, then one bad hole — or two — can ruin an otherwise solid round of golf.
So went Rachel Rohanna’s third round at the Pure Silk Bahamas LPGA Classic with a quadruple bogey and double bogey as the Waynesburg Central graduate finished with a 5-over 78 on the Ocean Club Golf Course on Paradise Island, Bahamas.
Rohanna sits in 80th place at 7-over 226 entering today’s final round. Anna Nordqvist and Charley Hull share the lead after three rounds at 12-under 207.
Rohanna birdied No. 2 to go to 1-under for the tournament, but that move was erased on the next hole with a quadruple bogey-7.
“It was just two bad shots, a bad lie, & three putts from 60 feet,” Rohanna said via Facebook Messenger of the third hole.
Rohanna then had issues on the last par-3 of the back nine with a double bogey-5.
“Yep, a quad and a double will kill your score, hah. Otherwise, I shoot 1-under,” said Rohanna.
She had one birdie on each nine, plus a bogey-6 on the front nine to play the other 16 holes in 1-under.
Playing the weekend in her first event as a full-time member of the LPGA Tour was made possible with a remarkable turn-around in Friday’s second round when she rallied to shoot 5-under 68, one of the best rounds of the tournament. Rohanna was in the final group of the round, so when she completed her day she moved into the final spot at 2-over-par after shooting 7-over 80 in the first round.
Rohanna turned to her longtime swing coach, her grandfather, to help straighten things out, especially with her wedges.
“Oh, no the wind was some of the worst wind I’ve ever played in, but I had a lesson this morning with my grandfather. I hit the ball 100 percent better and had much better control with my wedges,” Rohanna said after Friday’s round. “(The big difference) was just my ball striking. My grandfather’s lesson was the key.
“I felt good all day, but I think starting out with three birds (birdies) in a row just got me comfortable. I didn’t feel I could stick every shot because of how windy it was, but I did feel much more confident.”
The cut started at 1-over when the second round began, but slipped to 2-over later in the day with Rohanna on the course after a 12:48 p.m. tee time.
“No, I had no idea (of the projected cut), but I knew scores would be kind of high because of the wind,” said Rohanna.
Not one to watch the scoreboard, Rohanna had no notion of where she stood before she earned the final berth into the weekend.
“Haha, no, I thought all I had to do was bogey and I’d be good!,” said Rohanna. “I think that is the biggest swing for me. Well, in a big tournament that I can remember.”
Rohanna said she didn’t have a letdown after her remarkable second round.
“No, I played great (Friday), but I’ve played enough and know how to handle my mental game after a good or bad round, so it wasn’t affecting me,” said Rohanna. “The course played short and pretty easy today, just had a bad day and it’s the first event of the season. It’ll take a few weeks or couple of months to really get back in the swing of things.”