Stanford closing in on 2nd LPGA victory
LONDON, Ontario (AP) – Angela Stanford moved a step closer to an elusive second LPGA Tour victory, shooting a 3-under 69 on Saturday to take a four-stroke lead after the third round of the Canadian Women’s Open. Stanford, the 28-year-old Texan who followed her 2003 Shoprite Classic victory with a playoff loss to Hilary Lunke in the U.S. Women’s Open, had a 13-under 203 total on the London Hunt and Country Club course. She matched the tournament record Thursday with a 64 and maintained a three-stroke lead Friday with a 70.
Stanford also took a four-stroke lead into the final round of the Franklin American Mortgage Championship in May in Tennessee in a bid for a wire-to-wire win, but closed with a 73 to finish two strokes behind winner Cristie Kerr.
Defending champion Meena Lee was second after a 66, the best round of the day in warm, calm conditions on the tree-lined course. Jee Young Lee (71) was another stroke back at 8 under, and Pat Hurst (67) followed at 6 under.
Lorie Kane, trying to become the second Canadian to win an LPGA Tour event in Canada, was eight strokes behind at 5 under after a 73. Four shots back after the second round, she parred the first 11 holes, dropped two strokes with a double bogey on No. 12 and finally made a birdie on the par-4 15th.
Kerr (74) also was 5 under along with Young Kim (67) and Nicole Castrale (69). Kerr and Kane both struggled before a huge gallery following the second-to-last group.
Stanford made a 3-foot birdie putt on the short par-4 11th to take a six-stroke lead at 14 under, but bogeyed the next two holes. She three-putted the par-4 12th and failed to get up and down for par from a greenside bunker on the par-3 13th. She got back to 13 under with a short birdie putt on the par-5 16th and saved par on the par-4 18th for the second straight day – this time with a 10-foot putt.
The former TCU star made three birdies on her bogey-free front nine to move five shots ahead, holing a 30-foot putt on the par-3 fourth, a 30-footer on the par-4 fifth and a 7-footer on the par-5 seventh. After making the long birdie putt on No. 5, she got up and down for par from a greenside bunker on the par-4 sixth.
DIVOTS: Meena Lee won her first tour title last year at Glen Arbour in Halifax, Nova Scotia. She also won the Fields Open in February in Hawaii, holding off Michelle Wie in regulation and beating Seon Hwa Lee on the third hole of a playoff. Stanford tied for third in Halifax, two strokes back. … Jocelyne Bourassa is the only Canadian to win an LPGA Tour event in Canada, accomplishing the feat in the 1973 La Canadienne. … Meg Mallon, a three-time winner in Canada, was 4 under after a 72. … The winner will receive $255,000 from the $1.7 million purse.