ST. ANDREWS, Scotland — Inbee Park wanted tough conditions at St. Andrews to try to make up an eight-shot deficit in her pursuit of a fourth straight major.
Associated Press
ST. ANDREWS, Scotland — Inbee Park wanted tough conditions at St. Andrews to try to make up an eight-shot deficit in her pursuit of a fourth straight major.
It turned out to be too tough for anyone.
The third round of the Women’s British Open was suspended Saturday by gusts that topped 40 mph and kept golf balls from staying put on the greens. After waiting six hours for the wind to calm, players were told to return this morning for a marathon finish.
Whether that becomes a huge break for the leaders — Na Yeon Choi at 10-under 134 was an hour away from teeing off — won’t be known until Sunday.
“It’s still going to be windy tomorrow — not, hopefully, as windy as it’s been today, but there’s no letup in it,” said Susan Simpson, head of operations for the Ladies Golf Union. “It’s still going to be very breezy and equally difficult conditions.”
How difficult?
Nine players who completed the third round had an average score of 78.2. Cristie Kerr and Lydia Ko each had a 75, the best of those who finished. Rikako Morita shot 86. The cumulative nine-hole scores for the 20 players who at least made the turn was 54-over par.
There were 508 holes played, and only 26 birdies.
Park is trying to become the first golfer, male or female, to win four straight professional majors in the same season. Her hope was for a steady round in raging wind and for the leading players to lose ground. Park was 1 under through four holes, making a 30-foot birdie putt at No. 3.
But it was her par on the fourth hole that helped make officials realize it was time to stop. The ball moved from its position from a gust, and Park called for a ruling to make sure she could replace it as long as she didn’t address the ball.
Simpson said it wasn’t Park’s ruling alone.
“The time frame for the balls actually moving was very short,” Simpson said. “We got five calls, all in the space of a few minutes. … So I can’t actually say which one was the last one that made the difference because it all happened so quickly. There was a gust of almost 40 mph, and with that singular gust, all the balls started to move on the five calls that we had. And we suspended play immediately.”
The most impressive round belonged to Anna Nordqvist, who was 1 under through 15 holes. Danielle Kang was even through 11 holes.
RENO-TAHOE OPEN
RENO, Nev.— Gary Woodland holed out from a greenside bunker for eagle and hit an approach shot from the fairway to 2 inches for one of his six birdies to take the third-round lead in the Reno-Tahoe Open with 37 points in the modified Stableford scoring system.
Brandon Steele vaulted into second place with 30 points. He played the last six holes in 7-under par under a traditional format, capping five consecutive birdies with a 33-foot chip-in for eagle on the 616-yard 18th.
3M CHAMPIONSHIP
BLAINE, Minn. — Tom Pernice Jr. moved into position for his second Champions Tour title, shooting a 7-under 65 to take a two-stroke lead over Tom Kite in the 3M Championship.