Ashleigh Buhai overcame a late bogey with a closing eagle on Saturday in the third round of the LPGA Tour’s Meijer LPGA Classic for Simply Give at Blythefield Country Club in Grand Rapids, Michigan to head into the final round one off the pace.
Buhai, the reigning AIG Women’s Open champion, the Women’s Australian Open champion and the Investec South African Women’s Open champion, carded a six-under-par 66 to move to 14-under-par for the tournament. She will be chasing Korean Amy Yang in the final round. Yang carded a third-round 67. Buhai shared second with Xiyu Lin of China and Japan’s Akaya Furue.
“I hit a really good drive on 17,” said Buhai of her bogey, “and then that fairway just slants really left to right. I hit the approach a little bit heavy. Just made a bad swing. And then I had a terrible lie, standing half in and out of the bunker, so I just tried to get on the green, take my bogey and get out of there.
“And then the eagle: Obviously we know 18 is gettable. Just said to myself, okay, I need two more good swings, and that’s what I did. I hit a five-hybrid, probably to six meters. I had 172 to the front downwind.
“I was a little blocked out by the tree so I had to whip it around the tree, which I did. And that’s not my favourite shot. I fade the ball. I stood up there really committed to the shot and I said to my caddie, if I can get this to the middle of the green, but it rolled up there a little closer, which was nice.”
After her win last week to take her first LPGA Tour title in the United States, Buhai has looked at ease and in control the whole week. “Winning gives you confidence and it’s a by-product,” she said “Once you’re in that situation, the more you put yourself in the situation, the more comfortable you become. By not focusing on the outcome and just trying to focus on that moment and doing my job well at the ball, that kind of frees me up a lot I think.”
The Grand Rapids-area event is the final tournament before the major KPMG Women’s PGA next week at Baltusrol and the US Women’s Open at Pebble Beach on July 6-9.
While Buhai won’t be able to avoid thinking ahead, she will first have to deal with trying to get ahead of a pack of players who could deny her another victory. “My mindset doesn’t change, to be honest,” she said. “I think when you start to push, then that’s where mistakes happen. So, every time I get up to the ball I just think of whatever shot I’m trying to hit and just commit to that completely. Whatever the outcome is after that, obviously it’s difficult to sometimes forget about it if you don’t get the one you want, but get up to the next one and try to do the best you can on the next shot.
“I have the tools to deal with that pressure, but better than I used to have. You know, when I’m in that situation, I kind of… I feel a bit calmer and the nerves are obviously there, but I think because I know how to implement the shots it just calms me down a bit.
“Any win would be special, no matter what tournament it is. Obviously we’re out here to give ourselves chances every week. I’m giving myself a chance again this week. Again, this course is low scoring so I’m going to need a good one in the final round. I think the key is not to push too hard.”
