Denmark’s Nanna Koerstz Madsen seized a three-stroke lead after Saturday’s third round of the LPGA JTBC Classic after South Korea’s An Na-rin closed with a triple bogey disaster.
The 27-year-old Dane, who won her first LPGA title two weeks ago in Thailand in her 93rd career start, fired a three-under par 69 to stand on 14-under 202 after 54 holes at Aviara Golf Club in Carlsbad, California.
Back-to-back titles would bring a huge confidence boost if she can manage the feat, Madsen said.
“That would be really cool,” she said. “It will tell me that I belong here, I belong in the winner’s circle. It wasn’t just one time. So it will give me a lot mentally.”
An was second on 205 after shooting 69 as well but she had shared the lead with Madsen until the final hole after a back-nine battle for the lead.
Madsen was the first Danish player to capture an LPGA crown when she eagled the second playoff hole to beat China’s Xiyu Lin for the Honda LPGA Thailand title on March 13.
“I do think it’ll be easier going into tomorrow with a lead than it was in Thailand, but going in with a lead you still want to win, so you still have all excitement in your body that you’ve got to control,” Madsen said.
Madsen birdied the par-3 third, par-5 fifth and par-3 sixth holes, but followed with a bogey at seven and a double-bogey at the par-5 eighth.
That opened the door for An to grab the lead with a birdie at the ninth, her fourth birdie of the front side.
Madsen rallied with birdies at the ninth and par-5 10th to reclaim the lead and a bogey by An at the 12th hole gave Madsen a two-stroke edge.
“It does tell me that I’ve come a long way,” Madsen said after her fightback. “Normally I probably would’ve freaked out after eight. I was not happy with my double bogey, but I knew there was a lot of chances out there on the back nine as well.
“So I just got to continue doing what I was doing. I was still hitting good shots. I just made two bad shots, and that’s what happens.”
– A rollercoaster…
Source : yahoo
