Ko maintains slim lead at Canadian Women's Open

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New Zealand golfer Lydia Ko

Lydia Ko, the world's top amateur, continued her surprising run at the Canadian Women's Open Saturday when the 15-year-old New Zealand native shot an even-par 72 for a one-shot lead through three rounds of the national championship in Vancouver.

American Stacy Lewis (66) and the South Korean trio of Shin Jiyai (69), Park Inbee (70) and Chella Choi (73) were within one shot of Ko who was at eight-under 208 through 54 holes in the 2 million U.S. dollar championship at the Vancouver Golf Club.

The Korean-born Ko, who won the U.S. Women's Amateur title earlier this month, said she wasn't feeling any pressure leading a field that included 48 of the top-50 money winners on the LPGA Tour this year.

"The biggest pressure is me being the world No. 1 amateur and people are expecting things. The next thing is playing against the big names, it's really hard to keep up with them," said the Auckland native, whose round included three birdies and three bogeys.

"Pressure is one of the biggest things I try to handle, but it's not like I get a lot of pressure. It doesn't throw me off."

The laid-back Ko, who was tied for the lead with Choi through 36 holes, said she planned to practice putting following her round after missing a three-foot putt on the 18th hole.

"Tomorrow, I'm just going to try my best. I've got my own game to play. I can't concentrate on what other players are doing. If they shoot 66 and I shoot 68 and I lose, I can't control what they do. So I'm just going to play my game and have one shot at a time."

South Korean great Shin, who won the first two years of the China Women's Open in Xiamen before bursting out onto the world golf scene, continued her steady play in a bogey-free round that included three birdies. In the first three rounds, the former world No. 1 has dropped only one shot.

"Everyday my goal is just make a couple of birdies, because the last couple of days I hit two-under, two-under, so I'm really happy with that," said the former World No. 1, an eight-time winner on the LPGA Tour. "With this course it's really tough. Until today I've made just one bogey. It is a really good thing about this golf course. My shot and my putting, the tempo is really good at the moment so I just keep (it going) tomorrow.

Current World No. 1 Yani Tseng's summer struggles continued as the Chinese-Taipei star, who opened the tournament with a 66 for the first-round lead, shot 74 to sit 1-under through 54 holes.

"I didn't drive well today, but it's so close. There's a few putts that feel like they're going in and then come out. It could be a few shots better. I don't feel that I have the luck, I just need a little more luck for tomorrow and I think it will be fine," she said.

"I'm going to be aggressive and just don't worry about anything. Be aggressive and try to make as many birdies as I can."

World No. 3 Feng Shanshan also struggled, shooting three-over 74 and six-over for the tournament.

"The whole week I was kind of lost, lost my swing and my putting stroke is not very good either. So just not playing very well, but I still feel happy that I made the cut," said the Guangdong native. "I'm going to try to find myself back tomorrow. No goal, I'm not going to give myself any pressure."

 

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