There’s something about the way she’s playing this week in the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship at Baltusrol Golf Club in Springfield, New Jersey that take’s Lee-Anne Pace back to her winning days.
Her third-round of one-under-par 70 on Saturday was good enough on ‘moving day’ of a major championship to keep her within sight of the lead as she moved to four-under-par for the championship. That was just three behind leader Leona Maguire of Ireland, who had a two-under 69 to be one clear going into the final round. Jenny Shin of Korea carded a fine five-under 66 to be in second on six-under, and England’s Stephanie Meadow had a 67 to be in third on five-under.
Pace shared fourth with Ruoning Yin of China. She’s close enough to the top of the leaderboard to get her juices flowing. “This week has reminded me of the time when I was winning,” she said. “Being in contention here is almost as good as that, but it’s definitely not better than winning. Winning is great.
“But this reminds me of that because I feel confident. I feel like I can hit the shots that I want, and if I don’t, it’s not that far off. Yeah, I feel good about my game. Really good.”
She should, and she knows exactly why. “My longer putts were really good,” she said. “Placement was good. My driving was excellent, which was key. So it was a little bit disappointing on the last hole to miss the fairway with a chance at such an easy birdie, but all in all a really good day.”
She’s ready to dig deep as she chases a title which would cement her place as one of South Africa’s great – not that her place is in any doubt, really. “The final round will probably be tougher,” she said. “We can expect some tough pins and it will be physically tiring.
“I have to get good rest tonight and then just doing pretty much the same as what I’ve been doing. It’s been working for me. So fairway, green, try and make the putt, and see at the end what happens.”
Behind her, Ashleigh Buhai showed her own major championship stuff with a four-under-par 67 lifting her to a share of 18th on level-par. She made six birdies to show that she can chase from a substantial distance back, but she will want to avoid the two bogeys she had in her third round when she plays the final round.
