Month: April 2016

SWINGING SKIRTS LPGA CLASSIC: Long-range putt points Nomura to victory

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By Jeremy Harness

AP photo: Haru Nomura holds up the LPGA Swinging Skirts 2016 Trophy at the 18th hole at Lake Merced Golf Club after winning the tournament

DALY CITY, Calif. – Haru Nomura spoke through an interpreter for a good deal of her post-tournament interview, but in describing the reaction that she got when draining a crucial 75-foot birdie putt, she did not need one.

“My caddie said, ‘Holy (expletive)!’”

The putt could not have come at a better time, as she had seen her five-shot lead dwindle to a single stroke after a string of three bogeys in a four-hole span. Sensing that she really needed to find a way to shut the faucet off somehow, her caddie gave her a hearty pep talk immediately following the last bogey at the 11th.

It seemed to work beautifully. She hit her tee shot at the par-three 12th to the back of the green and then drained the monster downhill putt and pushed her lead out to two shots. She then added another birdie two holes later to give herself just enough cushion to win the Swinging Skirts LPGA Classic at a very cold and windy Lake Merced Golf Club.

“I like windy situations,” Nomura said. “I like tough situations, so when I spoke to the caddie, even before the championship last week in Hawaii, I told him, ‘I’m going to come here and win this tournament because I really like this course.’”

“I’m glad that I was able to deliver on what I told my caddie.”

Strong winds engulfed the entire course this weekend, and Sunday presented the toughest conditions and wreaked havoc on scorecards all the way up and down the field. In fact, there were only 10 players who shot under par in the final round. 

“I said, ‘Hey, if I was half my weight, I’d probably already be flying away like a balloon,” said Lydia Ko, who celebrated her 19th birthday Sunday.

South Africa’s Lee-Anne Pace had built some momentum going into Sunday’s final round, but that all went up in smoke as her round got under way, as she bogeyed each of the first five holes. However, she managed to right the ship rather nicely following the setback, birdieing two of the next four holes and then playing the back nine at one-under to post a two-over 74, good enough for a second-place finish.

“I think I just didn’t trust it on the first five holes,” Pace said. “I didn’t realize the putting was going to be that difficult. The ball was moving a little bit, so it was difficult to just try and make a good stroke on it.

“I missed a couple of short ones quickly, so that set me back a little bit. But after we started making the putts and getting a few back on the back nine, everything was fine.”

Ko stayed in contention until the final round, but she just did not have enough to make up the ground that she needed to in order to defend her title. As was the case with Pace, Ko stumbled out of the gate on Sunday. She bogeyed four of the first seven holes, and even though she played the remaining 11 holes at one-under, the damage had been done.

“I don’t know if any players could get anything going (Sunday),” Ko said. “Sometimes you’re struggling and you need to (just) make bogey. (Sunday was ) not the day where you think you’re going to get really hot. If you do, that’s great.

“I see there were a couple under-par scores, and I think that’s almost like a 65 or a 63.”

At one point, Na Yeon Choi, who started her final round at seven-under, was only one stroke behind Nomura after making a birdie at the par-five 14th to draw even in her round, but that hope vanished when she bogeyed the 15th just as Nomura birdied the 14th right behind her, and then a double-bogey on the very next hole sealed her fate. She finished the tournament tied for third at four-under.

Warriors up 3-1 on Rockets, Curry injured again

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By Daniel Dullum
Sports Radio Service
Sunday, April 24, 2016

AP photo: The Warriors Stephen Curry is assisted off the court after the first half with a right ankle sprain

Golden State’s Stephen Curry left Sunday’s NBA playoff game with yet another injury – this time it’s his right knee.

Depsite Curry having to leave the game late in the first half, the Warriors carried on and drubbed the Houston Rockets 121-94 in Houston, taking a 3-games-to-1 lead in the opening round best-of-seven.

The Associated Press reported that Curry, who missed two games with a sprained right ankle, sprained his right knee and did not play in the second half. Curry’s status for game five in Oakland is questionable. The Warriors will know more after Curry undergoes an MRI on Monday.

Even with one half of the Splash Brothers out of action, the Warriors kept the 3-pointers coming. Klay Thompson sank seven 3s – four of them in the third quarter – as Golden State sank a franchise playoff-record eight in the quarter and an NBA playoff record 21 for the afternoon.

The Warriors bagged 41 points in the third quarter to run away with the game. Thompson scored a game-high 23 points for the Warriors. Andre Iguodala added 22 points, his season high, and Draymond Green scored 18.

Dwight Howard led Houston with 19 points and 15 rebounds. James Harden was quiet by his standards, finishing with 18 points, 10 assists and seven steals.

Before leaving the game, Curry made a 3-pointer for the 42nd consecutive playoff game, two behind record-holder Reggie Miller. Curry, who struggled with his shooting before the knee injury, finished the game with six points.

Jays beat the A’s 6-3 to take the series

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MLB: Oakland Athletics at Toronto Blue Jays
Oakland Athletics starting pitcher Eric Surkamp Photo Credit: Dan Hamilton-USA TODAY Sports

by Charlie O. Mallonee

There is nothing harder to do in Major League Baseball than to try to establish a winning streak on the road. After winning six games in a row, the A’s lost on Saturday to the Toronto Blue Jays.

On Sunday, the A’s wanted to get back into the win column and take the series from the Jays. The A’s were unable to accomplish either of those goals.

The A’s starting pitching left much to be desired on Sunday allowing Toronto to score six runs in 4.2 innings.

The A’s hitters showed some power hitting three home runs. The only problem with those round-trippers were that all three were solo shots.

The Jays starting pitching was not overwhelming but was just good enough to get the win.

Toronto used a combination of power and productive two-out hitting to score six runs which was more than enough to win the game.

On the hill

LHP Eric Surkamp (0-2, 5.59) started the game for the Athletics. Surkamp came into the game looking for his first win of the season. Instead, he was charged with his second loss of the year.

Surkamp gave up all six Toronto runs in his 4.2 innings of work. He gave up two home runs and two doubles. Surkamp threw 97 pitches (54 strikes), walked three and struck out just two Blue Jays. He face 26 batters in his time on the hill.

The Oakland relief corps did its job. Marc Rzepczynski, Ryan Dull and Fernando Rodriguez held the Jays scoreless in their 3.1 innings of work. The relievers allowed only three base runners in closing out the game for Oakland.

Drew Hutchison (1-0, 3.18) started the game for Toronto and picked up his first victory of the season. Hutchison was not over powering on the mound as he gave up two runs (both earned) on four hits in his 5.2 innings of work. Two of those hits were home runs. Hutchison struck out five and walked three A’s hitters.

Former Oakland Athletic Jesse Chavez relieved Hutchison in the top of the sixth inning inning. Chavez returned to the mound in the seventh and issued a home run to the A’s lead off hitter Chris Coghlan.

Brett Cecil, Drew Storen and Roberto Osuna finished off the game for the Jays holding the A’s without a hit. Osuna picked up his sixth save of the season.

In the batter’s box

The A’s were had only five hits in the game. Josh Reddick had the only multi-hit game going 2-for-4 including a home run. Khris Davis and Chris Coghland hit the other home runs for Oakland. Yonder Alonso recorded a base hit for the A’s.

Oakland was 0-for-2 with runners in scoring position and left just three men on base.

Three Blue Jays had multi-hit games. Ezequiel Carrera went 2-for-4 including hitting his first home run of the season. Kevin Pillar hit a double and scored a run in going 2-for-4. Darwin Barney also had a two-hit game for the Jays.

The Jays went 3-for-15 with runners in scoring position and left nine runners on base.

Up next

The Athletics head to Detroit for a four-game series that begins at 4:10 PM on Monday in Northern California. It could be an opportunity for the A’s to get back on the winning track.

The Tigers have lost four games in a row and have record of just 2-5 at home this season. They were just swept by the Cleveland Indians.

The A’s must achieve at least a 2-2 split in the four-game series. To come home 1-3 or heaven forbid 0-4 in the final series of this road trip would be devastating for the psyche of this team.

 

 

 

Marlins salvage finale with one run win 5-4

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By Jeremy Kahn

AP photo: The San Francisco Giants reliever Josh Osich got touched up for a home run by the Marlins JT Realmuto in the eighth inning of Sunday’s game at AT&T Park

SAN FRANCISCO-With his career-high tying fourth and final hit of the afternoon, JT Realmuto gave the Miami Marlins huge lift.

Realmuto hit a solo home run off of Josh Osich in the top of the eighth inning, helping the Marlins to a 5-4 victory over the San Francisco Giants before a crowd of 41,509, the 419th consecutive sellout at AT&T Park.

It was the second time in as many seasons that Realmuto pickup four hits in the same game, as he did it on June 5, 2015 against the Colorado Rockies at Coors Field.

The home run gave the victory to Kyle Barraclough, who picked up his first win of the season, while Osich lost for the first time during the 2016 season. AJ Ramos, despite giving up a single to Hunter Pence in the bottom of the ninth inning got Trevor Brown to ground into a force play to end the game.

Matt Cain gave up four runs on 10 hits, while walking two and striking out four and also gave up a long home run to Giancarlo Stanton.

“I felt good, I thought that Brownie good job mixing it up,” said Cain. “To get through that it what you are supposed to do,” said Cain (about the fifth inning).

Stanton hit his fourth home run of the season, as he led off the fourth inning to give the Marlins a short-lived 2-1 lead.

Pence tied the game up in the bottom of the fourth inning, as he hit a home run to straightaway centerfield for his third home run of the season.

The Giants got on the board in the bottom of the second inning, as Brown walked, advanced to second on a Brandon Crawford single and then scored on a Gregor Blanco single to centerfield.

Dee Gordon tied up the game in the top of the third inning, as he singled to center and then stole second and third. Christian Yelich then drove in Gordon when grounded into a Fielders’ Choice.

Yelich gave the Marlins the lead again in the top of the fifth inning, as he hit into his second Fielders’ Choice of the afternoon to once again score Gordon.

Angel Pagan reached on a Miguel Rojas fielding error in the bottom of the fifth, went to second on a Panik single and then trying to score the tying run at the plate, he was tagged out by Realmuto on a great throw from Yelich in left field.

Rojas then gave the Marlins a two-run lead in the top of the sixth inning, when he hit a sacrifice fly to score Derek Dietrich from third after Dietrich singled to lead off the inning, then advanced to third on a Realmuto double.

That two-run lead would last a half-inning, as Brandon Belt, in a pinch hitting role singled in Pence, who walked to leadoff the inning. Pagan then tied up the game, as he singled to left field to score Blanco.

After Realmuto hit his home run in the top of the eighth inning, the Giants loaded the bases with nobody out, but Pagan hit into a double play and then Panik struck out looking.

“It was a good pitch, you’re not happy about it, in that situation you need to get runs,” said Panik.

Earthquakes Remain Unbeaten at Home Thanks to Wondo PK

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By Matthew T.F. Harrington

AP photo: The San Jose Earthquakes Simon Dawkins who earned the penalty that set up Chris Wondolowski for the penalty kick for the game’s only goal on Sunday at Avaya Stadium

SAN JOSE, Calif. – The home cooking continues to taste so sweet for the San Jose Earthquakes as they ran their home undefeated streak to 5 straight games Saturday at Avaya Stadium. Chris Wondolowski scored his 116th career MLS goal on a penalty kick and David Bingham had a 5-save shutout to defeat Sporting Kansas City 1-0.

“It was a grind,” said Wondolowski. “Kansas City is a great team. We knew it was going to be a tough battle. It was a little windy too. That always makes it a little more difficult. I thought our defense did a great job shutting down a very potent attack.”

The win moves San Jose (4-2-2) into a tie for third place on the Western Conference table, leapfrogging 5th place Kansas City (4-4-0). The shutout marks the 20th time the Quakes have blanked Kansas City, the most times any team has shutout Sporting KC. It is also Bingham’s 3rd clean sheet of the season, putting him in a tie for the league lead.

“When you get a shutout there are a couple things that go into it,” said Earthquakes coach Dominic Kinnear. Maybe the other team is missing their chances or you’re defending well. David snuffed out some crosses and relieved pressure. I think we did a good job limiting their movement through the middle and push them to the outside where it’s easier to defend.”

The two teams battled to a nil-nil first half, with each team managing a number of dangerous opportunities. The Earthquakes held the corner kick advantage 5-2 while Sporting KC outshot its host 11-5.

“Those shots were really from like 30-35 yards,” said Kinnear. “It wasn’t like we were giving them great chances. We were sloppy with our passing, which led into those chances.”

5 of Kansas City’s double-digit shot total was on target, while San Jose didn’t force keeper Tim Melia to make a save in the half. At the other end Bingham was stellar for the Quakes, nabbing all 5 shots he faced.

“We’ve had games like this where we’ve gotten behind,” said Bingham. “It’s great, when you’re under pressure, to survive the storm.”

A bit of luck played into the game’s lone goal, and lack of another goal in the 2nd half. Kansas City’s leading scorer, Dom Dwyer, was racing towards the Quakes net unimpeded in the 55th minute. Bingham challenged him, coming into contact with Sporting KC’s striker. Referee Jair Marrufo signaled for play to continue.

“100 percent a penalty and a red card,” said Kansas City coach Peter Vermes. “That changes the game. It doesn’t get called. Other things are going to happen in the game.”

“From where I was sitting, it would have been a penalty to me,” agreed Kinnear. “Red card, I would have to make a decision after watching a replay.”

After getting away with a similar penalty at the other end, the Earthquakes drew a penalty shot in the 58th minute. Midfielder Simon Dawkins was in the penalty box unguarded trying to work around Melia’s right. The keeper came off his line to contest Dawkins, dragging the San Jose midfielder to the turf. Marrufo awarded the Quakes the penalty kick.

 

The choice of shooter was elementary for the Quakes, as they sent the 4th highest goal scorer in MLS history to the line. Just as elementary was Chris Wondolowski’s shot, beating Melia to his right for the strikers’ 7th goal of the season in 8 games for a 1-0 lead. The game-winner is Wondolowski’s 8th career goal against KC.

“It’s a 12 yard shot, one-on-one with the keeper,” said Wondolowski. “You should make them. You’re not going to always make them. I remember the ones I miss. I work on them every day at practice, but you have to have different philosophies.”

The Earthquakes will hit the road for their next two games, facing the Philadelphia Union and the Seattle Sounders over the next two Saturdays. San Jose had a three-game unbeaten streak snapped in its last home game against Portland and has yet to pick up a win on the road (0-2-1). They have not lost back-to-back games all season.

“Anytime you can follow up a loss with a win shows good character,” said Kinnear. “It means guys are going into a shell. They’re trying to get better the next time around. That, for me, is a huge thing.”

NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs Podcast with Daniel Dullum: Hawks take out the Blues; Pens crash the nets; Caps shutout the Flyers to advance; and more

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AP photo: Chicago Blackhawks Dale Weise celebrates after scoring in the second period, the St Louis Blues Scottie Upshall (10) skates back to the St Lous bench

On the NHL podcast with Daniel, the Chicago Blackhawks had to comeback from behind to defeat the St Louis Blues to force  a game seven in a 6-3 win.

The Pittsburgh Penguins took it to the New York Rangers crashing the net and Ranger goalie Henrik Lundqvist as the Pens knock the Rangers out of the playoffs in five games.

The Philadelphia Flyers were eliminated in six games 4-2 by the Washington Capitals in a 1-0 shutout on Sunday. The Caps who were predicted to win the first round accomplished it by two games.

The Dallas Stars lead the series against the Minnesota Wild and need just one more win to wrap u the first round. The Wild can be a tough customer but had their work cut out for them on Sunday.

The San Jose Sharks are waiting to either face Nashville or Anaheim to be their next opponent for round two of the playoffs. The Ducks came back from being down 2-0 to take the series lead 3-2.

Catch Daniel with commentary on the NHL podcast right here at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

 

Categories NHL

A’s Bassitt runs into red-hot Josh Donaldson with predictable results

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By Morris Phillips

Chris Bassitt wasn’t himself on Saturday, and it was apparent from the start.

Absent the normal velocity on his fastball, and struggling with location, Bassitt needed more than 30 pitches to finish the first inning. By the end of the second inning, and after Josh Donaldson’s majestic drive landed behind the center field wall, Bassitt was effectively done, trailing 5-1 in a game the A’s would go on to lose to the Blue Jays, 9-3.

“It’s a starter’s job to make them feel uncomfortable, and that was the very last thing I was doing,” Bassitt said.

The loss ended what the team hopes is a defining run, a six-game win streak, and a seven-game road winning streak that made the A’s the last big-league club to lose away from home in 2016. With the rest of the AL West experiencing early-season struggles, Oakland was able to maintain its perch atop the division—tied with Texas with a 10-8 record.

Bassitt had pitched effectively in each of his three previous April starts, but after the game he complained of arm fatigue. His fastball, normally 95-96mph, topped out at 94mph on Saturday, and that along with his body language and his poor track record in the first inning, had the Toronto lineup salivating.

The first two Blue Jays reached, but Bassitt had a chance to put the dangerous Jose Bautista away after starting him 0-2. But the right hander missed with his next three pitches, the last of which ended up at the backstop for a wild pitch, allowing the two baserunners to advance. When Bautista then grounded out, it was an RBI sacrifice tying the game 1-1, instead of an inning-changing double play.

Three batters later, the A’s fell behind when third baseman Chris Coghlan couldn’t cleanly field Russell Martin’s grounder, allowing Josh Donaldson to score. Curiously, the official scorer ruled Martin’s grounder an infield hit, but in the real world, it was an instance of the Oakland defense letting its pitcher down at a critical juncture.

In the second, Bassitt again let the first two hitters reach. Then on a 2-0 pitch to the reigning AL MVP, the ball grabbed too much the strike zone and Donaldson, true to form, sent it soaring. After hitting a career-best 84 extra-base hits in 2015, the former Athletic is at again this season, with 13 extra-base hits and a major-league best seven homers already.

Toronto snapped a three-game losing streak, and did what they could to change the tenor of the conversation away from the 80-game suspension for PED use handed down to their first baseman, Chris Colabello. Justin Smoak, an experienced veteran replaced Colabello, but the Blue Jays murderer’s row of Donaldson, Bautista, Edwin Encarnacion and Troy Tulowitzki remains intact.

Tulowitzki missed Friday’s game against the A’s, but returned in force with a pair of solo shots, the first of which came off Bassitt in the fifth.

Mark Canha got the A’s off to a fast start with a home run in the first. And Coco Crisp and Josh Phegley came up with timely, two-out RBI singles later in the game. But the A’s lineup was largely ineffective, drawing just one walk, and grounding into three double plays.

J.A. Happ pitched seven innings and picked up the win. The veteran was plenty familiar to the A’s, but they couldn’t damage him, outside of Canha’s blast. Happ’s doing something right; he placed himself on a very short list of Toronto starters to begin a season with four consecutive quality starts in the last 20 years.

The A’s turn to Eric Surkamp in Sunday’s series finale. Surkamp will be opposed by Drew Hutchinson, who was recalled from the minors for the assignment, a move, according to manager John Gibbons, made to give his entire rotation an extra day of rest.

Barracuda Even Up Series, Beat Reign 3-2

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By: Joe Lami

photo by San Jose Barracuda

SAN JOSE, Calif.—Despite being outshot 36-15, the San Jose Barracuda were able to defeat the Ontario Reign 3-2 on Saturday night at SAP Center at San Jose. With the win, the Barracuda tie up the Pacific Division Semi-Final playoff at one game a piece in the best of five series.

Even though, the Reign had more than double the amount of shots as the Barracuda, the game seemed really tight with Ontario not getting great chances. “It was like a chess match out there, not a lot of chances on both sides. They did outshoot us, but quality wise they had a few good ones, but Dell was good when he needed to be and we scored when we needed to,” said Barracuda coach, Roy Sommer.

After battling deflections off in the first period, Reign goaltender Peter Budaj finally let one through after Ryan Carpenter got a piece of a Joakim Ryan shot to give San Jose’s first goal at 3:58 of the second period.

The Barracuda added to their lead ten minutes later, as captain Bryan Lerg showed off his strength with a beautiful power move coming in off the right boards and crashing the net hard, sneaking the puck past Budaj to make it 2-0. Ryan picked up his second assist of the game and ‘Cuda goaltender Aaron Dell earned his second assist of the series helping break out the play. “I beat the D wide, buried the shoulder and went to the far post to see what happens,” said Lerg.

Ontario made it interesting, opening up the scoring just 2:40 into the third period. Kurtis MacDermid picked up his second goal of the series on a rocket wrist shot from the right point. Dell didn’t even have a chance at making the save.

San Jose scored the game winning goal at 8:23 after a beautiful give and goal between Nikolay Goldobin and Jeremy Langlois in which Langlois fed it cross crease for an easy tap in for Goldobin. Ryan picked up the secondary assist, earning his third point of the night. “That’s one of those things you work on in practice. You kick it wide and have a middle lane drive. It’s good when it works out,” added Langlois.

After pulling their goalie with two minutes remaining in the game, Ontario used it to their advantage tallying their second goal with .35 seconds remaining. Jonny Brodzinski scored his second of the series after a beautiful no-look backhand pass from Nick Dowd on the side wall for an easy tap in. However, it would be too little too late, as San Jose was able to close out the rest of the game to secure the victory.

The first round series continues on Thursday in Ontario with game three.

Peavy helps his own cause as Giants get five run win 7-2

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By Jeremy Kahn

AP photo: San Francisco Giants pitcher s are making a case to let the pitcher bat Jake Peavy gets a two run single off  the Miami Marlins pitcher Jose Fernandez in the fourth inning at AT&T Park Saturday

SAN FRANCISCO-Jake Peavy probably looked at Jeff Samardzjia, and probably said what ever you can do, I can do as well.

Peavy hit a two-run single in the bottom of the fourth inning, helping his own cause and the San Francisco Giants defeated the Miami Marlins 7-2 before a crowd of 41,886, the 418th consecutive sellout at AT&T Park.

The right-harder went seven innings, allowing two runs on seven hits, walking two and striking out seven on his way to his first win of the 2016 season.

After Denard Span struck out to leadoff the first inning, Joe Panik and Matt Duffy hit back-to-back singles and then Buster Posey made it three in a row with a single of his own to Panik. Brandon Belt then gave the Giants a big run, as he hit a sacrifice fly to Christian Yelich in left field to score Duffy.

Marlins pitcher Jose Fernandez helped out his own cause, as he singled in his first at-bat against Peavy and then scored the Marlins first run of the game, when he scored on a Marcell Ozuna double.

It was one of two hits for Fernandez, who lost for the second time this season against one win. Fernandez went six innings, allowing four runs on seven hits, walking three and striking out five.

Derek Dietrich cut the Giants lead in half in the top of the sixth inning, as he tripled to right-center field to score Yelich from first base after the left fielder led off the frame with a single.

The Giants added another run in the bottom of the seventh inning, as Gregor Blanco tripled for his first hit of the evening and then pinch hitter Kelby Tomlinson singled to left field to score Blanco.

Span came up with second hit of the game to send Tomlinson to third, as he attempted to steal second base with Panik at the plate, Span thrown out by Jeff Mathis and tagged out by Dee Gordon. Bruce Bochy challenged the call, but after a three minute 13 second review, the play was upheld.

Panik picked up his second hit of the night to score Tomlinson from third base. With a chance to blow the game wide open, Hunter Pence struck out with the bases loaded to end the inning.

Matt Duffy, who was honored with his own bobble head picked up three hits on the night and made an outstanding catch in the first inning, as he leaned into the stands to snare a Gordon pop up.

Like Bochy, Don Mattingly also lost his challenge, as he challenged the fact that Dietrich was safe on a Brandon Belt throw to Brandon Crawford. Mattingly thought that Crawford came off the base too early; however after a one minute 29 second review, the play was upheld.

Blanco picked up his second triple of the evening in the bottom of the eighth inning, and then scored for the second time in as many innings, when pinch hitter Angel Pagan hit a sacrifice fly to left field.

LPGA Swinging Skirts at Laker Merced: Nomura keeps building momentum, but she has company

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By Jeremy Harness

AP photo: Haru Nomura follows her drive from the second tee in the third round of the Swinging Skirts on Saturday at Lake Merced Golf Club in Daly City

DALY CITY – Haru Nomura extended her lead on Saturday, but there are some familiar faces still hanging around just enough to make things interesting.

Since taking over the lead on Friday, Nomura has seemed to have a stranglehold on this edition of the Swinging Skirts LPGA Classic. She has stayed away from the big mistake, and when faced with trouble, she has found a way to get past it and keep moving forward.

In Saturday’s third-round action, for example, she looked to be stymied by a low-hanging tree for her third shot at the par-five ninth. However, she hit a very nice low-flying shot that made its way onto the green and was then able to make the ensuing birdie putt.

She used shots like that, including a sand save on the back nine despite a very-awkward stance, to tack on a stroke to her lead, using three birdies to overcome a pair of bogeys and enter the final round with a three-stroke advantage.

One of her closest chasers is South Africa’s Lee-Anne Pace, who fired a three-under 69 to move into a tie for second. She herself had to fight off a pair of bogeys on the front nine by recording a trio of birdies. She then proceeded to play a bogey-free back nine, which was highlighted by two more birdies.

Her round was almost derailed from the beginning, however. As the story goes, Pace’s caddie lost one of his contacts Saturday morning, and despite having to jump through some hoops in the process, he was able to get a new pair just in time.

“In America, apparently you can’t just get it over-the-counter,” Pace said. “So he has a prescription from South Africa, but they didn’t accept it. So he had to go to the doctor and get the contacts.

“It’s quite a big deal, especially on the greens.”

As she did in last year’s tournament, 18-year-old Canadian Brooke Henderson has continued to charge her way up the leaderboard. She chipped in for birdie at the 18th hole on Saturday to finish with a three-under 69 to head into Sunday’s final round (tied for fourth and five strokes back).

Another thing that Henderson has going for her these days is a solid playing status. At this point last year, the only two ways that she could play was to either get a sponsor’s exemption or to get in via Monday qualifier.

That has since changed, as her victory in last season’s Cambia Portland Classic – she won by eight strokes – landed her full playing status on the LPGA Tour.

“I’m really close, and my game is close to being really good,” Henderson said. “I just have to stay patient and keep doing what I’m doing.

“I made some really good up-and-downs to kind of save my round and keep me going, which I think was really important. My short game was really good all day, and even on 18, chipping in was really helpful.”

So Yeon Ryu, on the other hand, is going the other way. After taking the initial lead in this tournament after posting an opening-round score of 63, which set the tournament course record, the South Korea native has slightly retreated since then. She followed a three-over 75 on Friday and then dropping a shot on Saturday, and she, like Henderson, is currently tied for fourth.

Also as the case with Henderson, Ryu finished her round on a high note. Ryu did not chip in, but she did hit a very nice approach shot to about three feet, a putt that she made for birdie for a one-over 73.

In a similar predicament is defending champ Lydia Ko, who turns 19 Sunday. She finds herself six strokes off of the lead after shooting a one-over 73 on Saturday, making a pair of birdies but was hampered by three bogeys.

“My game wasn’t really up to it today,” Ko said. “It was pretty average. But I felt like chipping, short game-wise, it was good, but I wasn’t making the putts the needed to go in for birdie or those crucial par saves, so I think that was the difference.”