Ko has 3-shot lead; Rohanna shoots 73 at LPGA tournament
Top-ranked Lydia Ko made three straight birdies early on the back nine Saturday in the Kia Classic and finished with a 5-under 67 to take a three-stroke lead in Carlsbad, Calif.
Rachel Rohanna of Waynesburg, who began the day in the top 10, shot 1-over 73. She is 4-under for the tournament and tied for 25th place entering the final round.
Rohanna, who played the front nine in 29 during Friday’s second round, played it at even-par 36 in the third round. She had a rough spot with consecutive bogeys on a pair of par-4 holes, Nos. 12 and 13. Rohanna birdied the par-4 No. 16.
Ko birdied Nos. 11-13 and closed with five straight pars to reach 14-under 202 at Aviara in the final event before the major ANA Inspiration next week in Rancho Mirage.
Sung Hyun Park, Brittany Lang and second-round leader Jenny Shin were tied for second.
Spieth loses match and No. 1 ranking: The Dell Match Play has produced a semifinal that is almost bigger than Texas.
Even without Jordan Spieth.
Jason Day powered his way to two victories Saturday to assure that he will return to No. 1 in the world.
But this is no time to celebrate. His reward is a semifinal showdown against defending champion Rory McIlroy, who ran his unbeaten streak to 12 matches and needs two more to join Tiger Woods as the only back-to-back winners. This is only the second time the No. 2 and No. 3 seeds have met in the semifinals since the Match Play began in 1999. They are the last two winners of this event.
“I expect it to be very, very tough and very stressful out there,” Day said.
Day and McIlroy have never met in match play.
“I’ve love to play Jason,” McIlroy said. “I’d really relish it. He’s playing really well at the minute, coming off a win last week. I’d be really up for it. It’s a big match.”
Spieth, who led the Texas Longhorns to an NCAA title in 2012 and had the gallery on his side all week, won’t be around for all the excitement.
He lost his fourth-round match to Louis Oosthuizen, and then he lost the No. 1 ranking when Day advanced to the semifinal. Spieth was more concerned about how his swing got out of sorts than losing the No. 1 ranking.
“To be honest, it could be a good thing for me going into the Masters,” he said.
Day and McIlroy were all square going to the back in their matches. Day won two of the first three holes to pull away from Brooks Koepka, closing him out on the 16th hole. McIlroy ran off four birdies in six holes for a 4-and-3 victory over Chris Kirk.
Poulter shoots 68, takes Puerto Rico lead: Ian Poulter shot a 4-under 68 at windy Coco Beach to take the third-round lead in the PGA Tour’s Puerto Rico Open.
Poulter had an 11-under 205 total. The Englishman bogeyed the par-4 13th and rebounded with birdies on the par-5 15th and par-3 16th. He’s winless since the 2012 World Golf Championships-HSBC Champions in China.
Tony Finau, Jonathan Byrd and Steve Marino were a stroke back. Finau shot 67, Byrd 68, and Marino 69.
Puerto Rico’s Rafael Campos, the leader after each of the first two rounds, had a 72 to drop into a tie for fifth at 9 under with Scott Brown (67) and Aaron Baddeley (69).
Washington’s Steve Wheatcroft shot 75 and is 2-over for the tournament.