Lindy Duncan Holds 54-Hole Lead at The ANNIKA as Cold Front Hits Pelican

• Lindy Duncan leads The ANNIKA by one shot after a bogey-free third-round 69.
• Hye-Jin Choi is alone in second after a bogey at the 18th cost her a share of the lead.
• Haeran Ryu shot the low round of the day, a bogey-free 65, to climb to within four.

Lindy Duncan raised her 5-wood above her head with both hands in the 18th fairway at Pelican Golf Club on Saturday as her ball cleared the water in front of the green. Her 192-yard approach into the wind set up a two-putt par for a 69, and the 35-year-old will take a one-shot lead at 13-under into the final round at The ANNIKA .

A cold front moved into the Tampa area overnight. The high on Saturday was 60 degrees, the breeze picked up, and the scoring average climbed three strokes from Friday. Duncan’s was one of the few bogey-free rounds of the day. She was doing jumping jacks in the 18th fairway to stay warm before her approach.

“I just started getting really cold in that fairway. I was telling Greg [Johnston, her caddie], if I’m hitting 5-wood I’m like pretty concerned about it not carrying because I’m just so cold,” said Duncan. “I tried to hit it pretty hard. Didn’t quite catch it. It was a little bit low on the face… I didn’t think it was going to clear and I don’t think it cleared by very much.”

What is at stake for Duncan?

Duncan shared the 36-hole lead with Choi and Carlota Ciganda. She is chasing her first win in more than a dozen years on the LPGA Tour. She arrived with one top-10 this season and at No. 74 in the Race to the CME Globe. The top 60 LPGA members, plus ties, after this week go to next week’s CME Group Tour Championship in Naples, Florida. A win would lift Duncan to a projected No. 34.

“It’s not what happens, it’s how you respond. Trying to get one percent better at that is huge,” said Duncan. “I think my game is in a good spot, so it’s like just try to go out and play my game and have fun with Greg.”

Choi drops a shot at the last

Choi bogeyed the opening hole and had made three bogeys by the 5th. Back-to-back birdies at the 6th and 7th steadied her, and birdies at the par-4 13th and par-5 14th drew her level with Duncan at 13-under. At the 18th she came up short of the green, took two more shots to reach the putting surface and made bogey.

“It was tough from the start today and it was kind of cold and windy,” said Choi. “And kind of the similar situation as yesterday with some mistakes on the front nine, so I just tried to concentrate on my play and it worked well.”

The South Korean has nine runner-up finishes in five seasons on Tour. Two came in her last three starts: she lost by a stroke to Ruoning Yin in Shanghai and shared second behind Yuri Yoshida at the BMW Ladies Championship.

“I think that it’s good that I have lots of opportunities to play in the final group and to get the chance to win,” said Choi. “I have some memories that I didn’t make my win, but I still have that experience.”

Ciganda bogeyed the 1st, dropped shots on the 5th to the 8th to go out in 40, and three-putted four times on her way to a 75.

Ryu charges, Korda slips back

Yoshida, who won that BMW event in October, is two back at 11-under. Ina Yoon is alone in fourth at 10-under. Ryu, Gaby López and Julia López Ramírez share fifth on 9-under.

Ryu started the day eight shots behind. Her 65 was only the second bogey-free round of the day, and it leaves the winner of the KPMG Women’s PGA and the Evian Championship four back in her bid for a third win of the year.

“This course is too hard because of the wind and green is firm and fast,” said Ryu.

Nelly Korda shot 71 and is six off the pace. She is one point short of the LPGA Hall of Fame, and a fourth win at Pelican would get her in.

The race for Naples

The CME Group Tour Championship pays $4 million to the winner, the largest single prize in women’s golf, and $1 million to the runner-up. López Ramírez started the week 66th in the standings and has gone 64, 67, 70. Dewi Weber began at No. 67 and is tied eighth on 7-under after 66, 69 and 68. Pauline Roussin-Bouchard arrived at No. 59, on the bubble.

“CME is always kind of in the back of my mind, especially this week, and it has been for the past few months,” said Weber. “At the same time it’s like, I mean, I have to top 10, and you don’t really get there by thinking about CME all the time. You get there by playing good golf, so that’s what I’m trying to do.”

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