Date: August 31, 2014
Author: LPGA/ALPG

Three Share Lead in Portland

Three Tied at the Top Rolex Rankings No. 4 Suzann Pettersen, Mi Jung Hur of Korea and Spain’s Carlota Ciganda are tied at 11-under par after the third round of the Portland Classic Presented by Cambia Health Solutions.

The players were greeted with breezy and wet conditions on Saturday, which produced higher scores than the first two rounds at Columbia Edgewater.

It wasn’t a great day for the two Australians that made the cut, Queensland’s Sarah Jane Smith carded a three-over-par 75 to be at one-over-par and in a tie for 62nd. While, Victorian Lindsey Wright is a further shot back and shares 66th position after a 74.

The trio leads a packed leaderboard that has eight players within two shots of the lead heading into Sunday’s final round.

Pettersen has posted another five-under-par 67, while Hur and Ciganda signed for 70’s. Rolex Rankings No. 5 So Yeon Ryu (70), South Korea’s I.K. Kim (74) and Tour rookie Xi Yu Lin (70) from China are in a tie for fourth and one shot back.

Pettersen (2011 & 2013) and Hur (2009) are both past champions of the event while Ciganda is playing for her first LPGA Tour title. Pettersen jumped up the leaderboard on moving day with her second-consecutive round of 5-under 67. She birdied the 16th and 17th holes to get to 11-under par. She has a chance at becoming only the second three-time winner of the event in its 43-year history, joining Nancy Lopez.

“My game is getting better and better,” said Pettersen. “Today I had a lot of chances on the back nine. Just couldn’t quite drop the putts. Birdied 16, 17 and got a good par out of 18 after being in trouble. But it was a good solid round.”