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Brianna Do has a chance to shed a label today at Hoakalei Country Club: great amateur, but winless as a pro at the highest level.
Do was on the Junior Solheim Cup team in 2007, then starred at UCLA, and won the U.S. Women’s Amateur Publinks in 2011.
She hasn’t enjoyed anywhere close to as much success as a pro. Do has played in 104 LPGA events in nine years, making just 41 cuts, with a career-best 15th-place finish in 2018.
But she’s never given up, and after a 5-under-par 67 in Friday’s third round, Do is just three shots behind leader Hyo Joo Kim, and tied with Hinako Shibuno for second at the LPGA Lotte Championship.
A few minutes after matching Megan Khang and Ruixin Liu for the day’s lowest score, Do said she hadn’t thought about her position on the leaderboard. But it’s undeniable: She’s in the hunt for her first LPGA win with 18 holes to play — for the first time.
And she’s confident.
“I can still hit the shots and I can still see and make the putts, so I feel like my game has always kind of been there. It’s just kind of gone down the wrong route a little bit and being led down the wrong route of how to play the game,” Do said. “I still feel like I have self-belief, and I feel like I can still hang with the best of them, so I keep at it.”
>> RELATED: Hyo Joo Kim keeps Lotte lead
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She wouldn’t even be here now if not for making it in via the Sunday qualifier.
Since then, she’s taken it step-by-step, shot-by-shot — focusing on beating the course, not the other golfers.
“I paid attention a little on the scoreboard. Not a whole lot. I was just kind of trying to stay in the moment. It’s windy out there. It’s playing tough. As long as I took care of what I had to do, the good golf will take care of everything else,” she said.
After shooting 72-70, 2 under par to make the cut, Do started strong Friday with three birdies. A bogey on No. 16 could have been much worse, and she birdied to end the day on No. 18.
“I’ve been working to retool my swing a little bit to make it more reliable under pressure and kind of simplifying it and making (it) more efficient. It’s kind of working,” Do said.
“I had a few good weeks on the Epson Tour, and the goal was (the qualifier) this week. I made the (qualifier). Then the goal was to make a check to get in the reshuffle, and I did that. And so now it’s trying to play my way into L.A. next week, just reevaluating goals as I go along.”
This is the third time she’s made the cut in six tries at Lotte; her best finish is T52. Last year, Do made some noise by shooting 10 under in the first two rounds with Tadd Fujikawa as her caddy. But she ended up tied for 54th after shooting 71 and 75 after the cut.
“I think there is something about Hawaii that is good for me. I mean, last year I played well going into the weekend; didn’t do too well on the weekend, but played well,” she said. “So there is something about Hawaii I like.”
That goes back to her UCLA days, when her best score as a collegian was a 5-under 67 at a tournament hosted by the University of Hawaii.
“I feel like I’m very calm, my game is very calm,” Do said. “In the past it’s always just been chaotic, always been waiting for something to happen. Right now I just feel like I’m in a good place with my swing physically, and like mentally I’ve always been pretty tough to kind of grind it out.
“So I’m kind of in a good place, a good head space … calm versus chaotic. It’s kind of nice.”
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