November 19-22
Pelican Golf Club, Belleair, Florida
$1,500,000
Round 2, Round 3, Round 4

Women's British Open winner Sophia Popov shot a 6-under 64 in spite of windy conditions to take a two shot lead in the Pelican Women's Championship.

"I think I'm playing with a different confidence level. You know, the shots are there. I always had them I felt like. I think mentally I've never felt as freed up as I do now. I don't know if that's from winning the tournament or just overall just having more fun out here. Having obviously an exemption for the next couple years just frees up the swing a little bit, my mindset, I can be a little bit more aggressive, and I think I just took advantage of that."

She birdied the last five holes of her front nine to make the turn at 29 but lost some momentum on the back nine with only two birdies and two bogeys.

"I felt pretty confident coming into the round. Honestly, probably didn't see that many birdies on my front. I thought with the wind the course is playing really tough, and surprised myself a little on that front nine. Tried to keep it going, but think the other nine is definitely tough and so I'm happy with my score."

Two shots behind, Ashleigh Buhai birdied three of the last four holes.

"You just have to stay patient, hit to the big parts of the green," said Buhai. "I think in order to shoot a low score today, you got to have a hot putter, especially this afternoon. The greens firmed up a lot and it was difficult to get it close. That's what I did. I made some good putts coming down. I hit it close on 17 and then holed a nice one on 18 for birdie."

Ally McDonald, who won her first LPGA title last month, and World No.2 Sei Young Kim are tied for third place with 67s.

"Honestly, my ball striking wasn't that great," said McDonald. "I just felt like my timing was just a little bit off."

Jin Young Ko, the number 1 player in the world for the past 68 weeks, is back after staying home in Korea since the pandemic and is planning to stay and play in the USA until the U.S. Women's Open. She opened with a 2-over 72 and is tied for 46th.