Michelle Wie had no problem racking up pars Friday at the Lotte Championship. Unfortunately, birdies were more the order of this windless day at Ko Olina Golf Club, and the Punahou graduate only managed two, causing her to fall down the leaderboard to a tie for 52nd. She shot a 1-under-par 71 to drop to 2 under for the tournament, 15 shots off the lead of South Korea’s Su-Yeon Jang (65—199).
Wie has 19 consecutive rounds of par or better entering today’s final 18. Her bogey at the par-3 fourth (her 13th) broke a string of 22 consecutive pars dating back to the eighth hole of the second round, where she carded a bogey at the par-3 hole. She went 26 holes between birdies, finally sinking one at the par-5 fifth, the same hole where she managed her only one in the second round.
Kerr goes low
Cristie Kerr came from out of the pack to equal the course record with a 10-under 62 to move into a tie for second at 14-under 202 to trail Jang by three shots. Kerr had 10 circles on her card, including seven on the back nine en route to a blistering 29.
She did not have an eagle. In fact, on the closing nine, she had a 5 at the par-5 14th, one of the easier holes on the course. Kerr had five birdies on the front nine of the second round as she tried to get into contention, but a double-bogey 6 at the 10th derailed her somewhat as she closed with eight pars to shoot a 69.
“I was just kind of being myself,” Kerr responded when asked if she were in a zone. “Yeah, everybody says being in the zone. I just kind of stayed out of my own way, which is what I have to do to have a chance to win. To post a number being a couple back right now. Yeah, it was a lot of fun today.”
Early ace for Broch Larsen
There weren’t many folks around to see it, but Nicole Broch Larsen’s start on Friday will be one to remember.
Broch Larsen was among the 15 players who couldn’t finish the second round on Thursday due to darkness. She returned to the course at 7:45 a.m. Friday and began the day with a birdie on No. 6 and a hole-in-one on the par-3 eighth.
“It was 124 meters, which will be 136 yards-ish,” said Broch Larsen, a tour rookie from Denmark. “It was my 9-iron. I knew that … it would be probably a little bit long, but there is this backstop behind the pin, and I played it on the backstop had a good line in and it went in.
“It looked like it was like stopping very close, and then it kind of (fell) in, so that was pretty cool.”
Broch Larsen’s fourth hole-in-one and third in competition moved her to 7 under. She finished off her round of 3-under 69 with a par on No. 9.
The rest of the day didn’t go quite so smoothly and she shot a 3-over 75 in the third round to slip into a tie for 34th.
Weather a factor
The biggest problem this week has been the weather. It rained so hard in all three rounds, delays were the norm. Friday’s downpour about hallway through the third round created a river of water at the sixth hole that washed out the bridge that leads the golfers back to the seventh hole.
Golf carts were battling high enough water that tour officials considered delaying the tournament until there was a safer transport across the fast-moving brown water. Turn around, don’t drown took on a whole new meaning for the female players.
There was an hour delay in the third round. It rained briefly about two hours later, but not hard enough to delay play.
Click here to see more photos.
