August 20-23
Royal Troon Golf Club, Troon, Scotland
$4,500,000
Round 1, Round 2, Round 4
Germany's world number 304 Sophia Popov will take a three-shot lead into the final round of the AIG Women's Open after a flawless 67 on Saturday.
🚨 DRIVER OFF THE DECK 🚨 @SophiaCPopov makes a stunning eagle to take the outright lead on -2 💥👏🏻#AIGWO #RaiseOurGame pic.twitter.com/ZXyatIVEpa
โ Ladies European Tour (@LETgolf) August 22, 2020
Popov, who qualified for the event just a fortnight ago, was the only player not to drop a shot in the third round at Royal Troon as she moved to four under with an eagle and two birdies.
Australia's Minjee Lee, the world number eight chasing her first major win, and Thailand's Jasmine Suwannapura were in a tie for second at one under.
They were the only three players under par. Americans Lindsey Weaver and Austin Ernst, and another German in Caroline Masson, were the next best in a tie for fourth on one over.
.@SophiaCPopov will take a 3 shot lead on -4 into the @AIGWomensOpen final round after a superb bogey-free 6⃣7⃣
โ Ladies European Tour (@LETgolf) August 22, 2020
💭"To win a Major would mean the world. It would be the biggest win of my career, 100%. It would honestly mean everything to me."#AIGWO #RaiseOurGame pic.twitter.com/gwQa3ZRvYH
The day belonged to 27-year-old Popov, who was not playing but caddying for friend Anne Van Dam when the LPGA Tour resumed after the coronavirus stoppage last month.
It then took a top-10 finish at the recent Marathon LPGA Classic in Ohio for her to qualify for the British Open for the first time since 2011.
Popov moved to the top of the leaderboard with an eagle three at the fourth and picked up two further strokes on the back nine in her four-under-par round.
Popov told Sky Sports: "Four under, and bogey free, was more than I could have hoped for and makes me extremely happy.
"Honestly, at the beginning of the day, I said if I could keep it together and play a solid round, around even par, (I'd be satisfied). Conditions were definitely better than the first two days but they still weren't easy."
Popov admitted sleeping on such a lead would not be easy.
She said: "I'd be lying if I said I wasn't going to be super nervous, but I'll try to keep the nerves to a minimum. I'll try not to check my phone. Please nobody text me!"
Lee, who briefly led after back-to-back birdies at the third and fourth, is also firmly in contention. She gave a shot back at the 12th but birdied 13 on her way to a 69.
Suwannapura picked up four birdies and was within one of Popov for most of her round but bogeys at the 15th and 18th were costly.
Former world number one Lydia Ko had some bright moments with four birdies but five dropped shots in her 72, ending six shots back on two over.
American Kristen Gillman was also two over after a three-under-par 68 that promised to be even better during a blistering front nine.
Gillman birdied five of the opening eight holes and was inches away from recording a hole-in-one at the Postage Stamp, Troon's famous eighth hole.
Action packed third round. All set for an exciting final day @RoyalTroonGC 📸 #AIGWO | @AIGWomensOpen pic.twitter.com/kg7rXIbaHT
โ Ladies European Tour (@LETgolf) August 22, 2020
Overnight leader Dani Holmqvist, the only player under par after two rounds, fell away badly with a 77. She started steadily with seven successive pars but then bogeyed seven of her last 11.
Inbee Park birdied three of the opening eight holes to force herself into the picture but a double bogey on the ninth and another dropped shot on the last left her where she began the day, on four over.
England's Mel Reid, who needed a birdie on the 18th to make the cut on Friday, shot 68 to climb to six over par but Europe's Solheim Cup captain Catriona Matthew dropped to eight over with a 74.
Wales' Becky Morgan dropped four shots in as many holes on the back nine, including a double bogey on the 17th, also to end the day on eight over after carding a 74.
England's Bronte Law was a shot further back on nine over after a 72 while 2018 winner Georgia Hall, despite three birdies on the front nine, slipped back to 10 over with a round of 74.
Pos. |
Player | To Par |
R1 |
R2 |
R3 |
Total |
1 |
Sophia Popov | -4 |
70 |
72 |
67 |
209 |
T2 |
Minjee Lee | -1 |
74 |
69 |
69 |
212 |
T2 |
Jasmine Suwannapura | -1 |
71 |
72 |
69 |
212 |
T4 |
Austin Ernst | 1 |
72 |
70 |
72 |
214 |
T4 |
Caroline Masson | 1 |
72 |
74 |
68 |
214 |
T4 |
Lindsey Weaver | 1 |
71 |
72 |
71 |
214 |
T7 |
Kristen Gillman | 2 |
75 |
72 |
68 |
215 |
T7 |
Lydia Ko | 2 |
72 |
71 |
72 |
215 |
T7 |
Emily Kristine Pedersen | 2 |
71 |
72 |
72 |
215 |
T10 |
Cydney Clanton | 3 |
74 |
73 |
69 |
216 |
T10 |
Katherine Kirk | 3 |
72 |
77 |
67 |
216 |
T10 |
Jennifer Song | 3 |
74 |
74 |
68 |
216 |
T13 |
In Gee Chun | 4 |
72 |
75 |
70 |
217 |
T13 |
Ariya Jutanugarn | 4 |
73 |
74 |
70 |
217 |
T13 |
Megan Khang | 4 |
75 |
70 |
72 |
217 |
T13 |
Nelly Korda | 4 |
72 |
72 |
73 |
217 |
T13 |
Andrea Lee | 4 |
74 |
73 |
70 |
217 |
T13 |
Inbee Park | 4 |
77 |
69 |
71 |
217 |
T19 |
Brittany Altomare | 5 |
77 |
72 |
69 |
218 |
T19 |
Dani Holmqvist | 5 |
71 |
70 |
77 |
218 |
T19 |
Yealimi Noh | 5 |
72 |
73 |
73 |
218 |
T19 |
Anna Nordqvist | 5 |
71 |
74 |
73 |
218 |
T19 |
Lee-Anne Pace | 5 |
71 |
74 |
73 |
218 |
T19 |
Alena Sharp | 5 |
71 |
74 |
73 |
218 |
T19 |
Momoko Ueda | 5 |
75 |
75 |
68 |
218 |
T26 |
Ashleigh Buhai | 6 |
74 |
73 |
72 |
219 |
T26 |
Caroline Inglis | 6 |
75 |
71 |
73 |
219 |
T26 |
Nuria Iturrioz | 6 |
71 |
74 |
74 |
219 |
T26 |
Azahara Munoz | 6 |
74 |
75 |
70 |
219 |
T26 |
Mel Reid | 6 |
78 |
73 |
68 |
219 |
T26 |
Lizette Salas | 6 |
73 |
74 |
72 |
219 |
T26 |
Jenny Shin | 6 |
77 |
73 |
69 |
219 |
T33 |
Jodi Ewart Shadoff | 7 |
73 |
75 |
72 |
220 |
T33 |
Dana Finkelstein | 7 |
77 |
71 |
72 |
220 |
T33 |
Hannah Green | 7 |
75 |
72 |
73 |
220 |
T33 |
Moriya Jutanugarn | 7 |
77 |
73 |
70 |
220 |
T33 |
Haru Nomura | 7 |
74 |
70 |
76 |
220 |
T33 |
Angela Stanford | 7 |
73 |
74 |
73 |
220 |
T33 |
Elizabeth Szokol | 7 |
72 |
74 |
74 |
220 |
T40 |
Marina Alex | 8 |
70 |
79 |
72 |
221 |
T40 |
Alison Lee | 8 |
72 |
77 |
72 |
221 |
T40 |
Catriona Matthew | 8 |
71 |
76 |
74 |
221 |
T40 |
Becky Morgan | 8 |
74 |
73 |
74 |
221 |
T40 |
Jing Yan | 8 |
77 |
73 |
71 |
221 |
T45 |
Carlota Ciganda | 9 |
77 |
74 |
71 |
222 |
T45 |
Perrine Delacour | 9 |
75 |
74 |
73 |
222 |
T45 |
Celine Herbin | 9 |
74 |
75 |
73 |
222 |
T45 |
Cheyenne Knight | 9 |
76 |
75 |
71 |
222 |
T45 |
Bronte Law | 9 |
80 |
70 |
72 |
222 |
T45 |
Stephanie Meadow | 9 |
75 |
75 |
72 |
222 |
T45 |
Morgan Pressel | 9 |
77 |
74 |
71 |
222 |
T45 |
Anne van Dam | 9 |
77 |
72 |
73 |
222 |
T53 |
Laura Fuenfstueck | 10 |
73 |
78 |
72 |
223 |
T53 |
Georgia Hall | 10 |
73 |
76 |
74 |
223 |
T53 |
Amy Olson | 10 |
67 |
81 |
75 |
223 |
T53 |
Sarah Jane Smith | 10 |
78 |
73 |
72 |
223 |
T57 |
Mi Hyang Lee | 11 |
76 |
71 |
77 |
224 |
T57 |
Pernilla Lindberg | 11 |
75 |
75 |
74 |
224 |
T57 |
Ally McDonald | 11 |
74 |
75 |
75 |
224 |
T57 |
Emma Talley | 11 |
77 |
73 |
74 |
224 |
T57 |
Amy Yang | 11 |
73 |
76 |
75 |
224 |
62 |
Danielle Kang | 12 |
76 |
74 |
75 |
225 |
T63 |
Sandra Gal | 13 |
74 |
74 |
78 |
226 |
T63 |
Julieta Granada | 13 |
77 |
73 |
76 |
226 |
T63 |
Nasa Hataoka | 13 |
74 |
77 |
75 |
226 |
T63 |
Gaby Lopez | 13 |
71 |
80 |
75 |
226 |
T63 |
Angel Yin | 13 |
75 |
74 |
77 |
226 |
T68 |
Dottie Ardina | 14 |
78 |
73 |
76 |
227 |
T68 |
Maria Fernanda Torres | 14 |
76 |
72 |
79 |
227 |
T68 |
Felicity Johnson | 14 |
76 |
74 |
77 |
227 |
T71 |
Stephanie Kyriacou | 16 |
73 |
78 |
78 |
229 |
T71 |
Camilla Lennarth | 16 |
75 |
76 |
78 |
229 |
73 |
Michele Thomson | 17 |
73 |
77 |
80 |
230 |
74 |
Johanna Gustavsson | 19 |
73 |
75 |
84 |
232 |
CUT |
Celine Boutier | 10 |
81 |
71 |
152 |
|
CUT |
Nicole Broch Larsen | 10 |
74 |
78 |
152 |
|
CUT |
Hannah Burke | 10 |
76 |
76 |
152 |
|
CUT |
Peiyun Chien | 10 |
78 |
74 |
152 |
|
CUT |
Manon De Roey | 10 |
81 |
71 |
152 |
|
CUT |
Kendall Dye | 10 |
77 |
75 |
152 |
|
CUT |
Julia Engstrom | 10 |
78 |
74 |
152 |
|
CUT |
Brooke M. Henderson | 10 |
77 |
75 |
152 |
|
CUT |
In Kyung Kim | 10 |
78 |
74 |
152 |
|
CUT |
Leona Maguire | 10 |
77 |
75 |
152 |
|
CUT |
Haley Moore | 10 |
76 |
76 |
152 |
|
CUT |
Gabriela Ruffels (a) | 10 |
79 |
73 |
152 |
|
CUT |
Monique Smit | 10 |
75 |
77 |
152 |
|
CUT |
Linnea Strom | 10 |
75 |
77 |
152 |
|
CUT |
Kelly Tan | 10 |
74 |
78 |
152 |
|
CUT |
Charlotte Thompson | 10 |
79 |
73 |
152 |
|
CUT |
Carly Booth | 11 |
80 |
73 |
153 |
|
CUT |
Olivia Cowan | 11 |
76 |
77 |
153 |
|
CUT |
Lindy Duncan | 11 |
76 |
77 |
153 |
|
CUT |
Eleanor Givens | 11 |
74 |
79 |
153 |
|
CUT |
Esther Henseleit | 11 |
78 |
75 |
153 |
|
CUT |
Sarah Kemp | 11 |
75 |
78 |
153 |
|
CUT |
Stacy Lewis | 11 |
76 |
77 |
153 |
|
CUT |
Meghan Maclaren | 11 |
78 |
75 |
153 |
|
CUT |
Gerina Piller | 11 |
81 |
72 |
153 |
|
CUT |
Katja Pogacar | 11 |
75 |
78 |
153 |
|
CUT |
Yujeong Son | 11 |
78 |
75 |
153 |
|
CUT |
Klara Spilkova | 11 |
75 |
78 |
153 |
|
CUT |
Lexi Thompson | 11 |
78 |
75 |
153 |
|
CUT |
Christine Wolf | 11 |
77 |
76 |
153 |
|
CUT |
Jenny Coleman | 12 |
78 |
76 |
154 |
|
CUT |
Laura Davies | 12 |
80 |
74 |
154 |
|
CUT |
Caroline Hedwall | 12 |
79 |
75 |
154 |
|
CUT |
Kylie Henry | 12 |
78 |
76 |
154 |
|
CUT |
Karolin Lampert | 12 |
75 |
79 |
154 |
|
CUT |
Brittany Lang | 12 |
77 |
77 |
154 |
|
CUT |
Xiyu Lin | 12 |
75 |
79 |
154 |
|
CUT |
Tvesa Malik | 12 |
79 |
75 |
154 |
|
CUT |
Olivia Mehaffey (a) | 12 |
77 |
77 |
154 |
|
CUT |
Madelene Sagstrom | 12 |
78 |
76 |
154 |
|
CUT |
Hinako Shibuno | 12 |
76 |
78 |
154 |
|
CUT |
Charley Hull | 13 |
76 |
79 |
155 |
|
CUT |
Minami Katsu | 13 |
76 |
79 |
155 |
|
CUT |
Yui Kawamoto | 13 |
75 |
80 |
155 |
|
CUT |
Cristie Kerr | 13 |
78 |
77 |
155 |
|
CUT |
Nanna Koerstz Madsen | 13 |
81 |
74 |
155 |
|
CUT |
Su Oh | 13 |
76 |
79 |
155 |
|
CUT |
Luna Sobron Galmes | 13 |
80 |
75 |
155 |
|
CUT |
Aditi Ashok | 14 |
78 |
78 |
156 |
|
CUT |
Gemma Dryburgh | 14 |
74 |
82 |
156 |
|
CUT |
Alice Hewson | 14 |
79 |
77 |
156 |
|
CUT |
Mone Inami | 14 |
77 |
79 |
156 |
|
CUT |
Marianne Skarpnord | 14 |
74 |
82 |
156 |
|
CUT |
Lina Boqvist | 15 |
75 |
82 |
157 |
|
CUT |
Jennifer Chang | 15 |
80 |
77 |
157 |
|
CUT |
Diksha Dagar | 15 |
79 |
78 |
157 |
|
CUT |
Maria Fassi | 15 |
75 |
82 |
157 |
|
CUT |
Yu Liu | 15 |
77 |
80 |
157 |
|
CUT |
Sanna Nuutinen | 15 |
74 |
83 |
157 |
|
CUT |
Annie Park | 15 |
81 |
76 |
157 |
|
CUT |
Whitney Hillier | 16 |
78 |
80 |
158 |
|
CUT |
Charlotte Thomas | 16 |
78 |
80 |
158 |
|
CUT |
Ursula Wikstrom | 16 |
81 |
77 |
158 |
|
CUT |
Jennifer Kupcho | 17 |
78 |
81 |
159 |
|
CUT |
Patty Tavatanakit | 17 |
76 |
83 |
159 |
|
CUT |
Tiffany Joh | 18 |
76 |
84 |
160 |
|
CUT |
Christina Kim | 18 |
80 |
80 |
160 |
|
CUT |
Emma Nilsson | 18 |
76 |
84 |
160 |
|
CUT |
Louise Ridderstrom | 22 |
81 |
83 |
164 |
|
CUT |
Tonje Daffinrud | 24 |
85 |
81 |
166 |