As darkness fell over Golden Ocala Golf Club and the rules officials blew the horn to signal the suspension of play, Lydia Ko and Ha Na Jang were making their way to the seventh tee with a share of the lead at 7-under-par. That’s where they both will start on Sunday in the final pairing with 30 holes on Saturday separating the two from the trophy for the Coates Golf Championship presented by R&L Carriers.
“I feel like I’ve been hitting it pretty solidly, so I think that way if I keep continuing to do that tomorrow, then obviously I’ve got to set up a few more birdie opportunities,” Ko said. “I’ve just got to stay positive with the putter, but sometimes you just have to take what’s going, and it’s not like every single one of them is not dropping. Some of them are dropping along the way. I just have to stay patient.”
Due to Thursday’s weather delay, Ko played just six holes Friday while Jang had to play 24 holes. But on Saturday, they’ll be together for the final 30 holes of the tournament just like they were here a year ago when they played together in the final group but finished as the runner-ups to Na Yeon Choi. Ko is in search of her 11th career LPGA victory while Jang is chasing her first after four runner-ups a year ago. Both Ko and Jang felt like they left shots out there a year ago and are looking for redemption Saturday.
“I don’t want to think about like score and other people’s [score],” Jang said. “I’m just playing as I play, so very confident right now because same course as last year and really good golf course, and I like this style. So it’s no problem, any golf shot, and then it’s like – I’m very confident as I look at it, so just very comfortable right now.”
There’s a quartet of players – Kim Kaufman, Sei Young Kim, Lexi Thompson, Jessica Korda, and Haru Nomura – just one shot back of Jang and Ko’s lead at 6-under-par. All faced varying challenges of a day that was tough to plan out for everyone with a morning finish and then afternoon start that was set to be cut well short from the start.
“It’s just hard to time out your day,” Jessica Korda said. “I think we came back out and played two and a half holes this morning and then had most of the afternoon/morning off and then back to play six holes, so I think just timing it all and keeping your energy levels up has been a little bit of a challenge.”
All will have the same challenge, though, Saturday – a marathon of golf that will include finishing their third round and then taking a brief hiatus before they’ll be back on the first tee to begin the final round.
Round three of the Coates Golf Championship was suspended at 6:12pm due to darkness. Round three is scheduled to resume at 7:30 am on Saturday, February 6 th .
Round four is estimated to begin at 9:40am off tees #1 and #10 with a projected last time of 11:52am.
NUMBERS TO KNOW
2 – Lydia Ko, Ha Na Jang, and Jessica Korda all tied for second here a year ago at 15-under-par and now all three are within one shot of the lead entering the final day of play with Ko and Jang leading and Korda just one shot back
4 – Ha Na Jang has four runner-ups in 2015 and is looking for her first LPGA win
17 – There are 17 players entering Saturday with three shots of the lead