Sophia Schubert birdied two of her final three holes to shoot a 5-under 67 and join Arpichaya Yubol in the lead after Saturday’s third round of The Standard Portland Classic.
Schubert and Yubol reached 16-under 200 at Columbia Edgewater Country Club. The final round will feature two players seeking their first LPGA Tour victory. Jeeno Thitikul sits two strokes behind after matching Schubert’s 67 and will complete Sunday’s final group.
Yubol, who held the outright lead after 36 holes, carded a 68. Narin An produced the lowest score among the leading four players, a six-under 66, to reach 13-under and remain three shots off the pace.
Schubert closes with two late birdies
Schubert began the third round tied for second at 11-under and opened with a birdie at the first. A bogey on the par-4 fourth was immediately recovered with a birdie at the par-5 fifth, before another gain at the par-5 seventh took her out in 34.
The American made further birdies on the par-5 10th and 12th holes, moving to 15-under before dropping a shot at the par-4 14th. She responded again, birdieing the par-3 16th and par-4 18th to complete a back-nine 33.
Her round contained seven birdies and two bogeys. It also left her at the top of an LPGA Tour leaderboard after 54 holes for the first time.
Schubert enjoyed playing alongside Yubol and will see her again in the final group.
“I can’t wait to play with her again,” Schubert said. “We had a great day today. She’s fun to play with.”
Epson Tour return restored Schubert’s confidence
The 30-year-old Schubert returned to the LPGA Tour this season after finishing 10th in the Epson Tour’s Race for the Card standings last year. She made 18 cuts in 20 starts during that campaign and recorded six top-10 finishes.
Schubert, the 2017 US Women’s Amateur champion, has made 12 cuts in 14 LPGA Tour starts this season but has yet to record a top-10. She entered the week ranked 295th in the world and 125th in the tour’s points race.
“I love the Epson Tour. It’s great. I loved playing out there,” Schubert said. “I think it was a great boost for my confidence. Competition is great and you get the sense of winning.”
Yubol faces another chance to claim a first title
Yubol began her back nine with consecutive birdies to reach 17-under. The 24-year-old then made six pars and a bogey at the par-4 15th over her closing seven holes.
The Thai player has already finished second twice this season, at Mayakoba and the ShopRite LPGA. Ranked 112th in the world and 28th in the season standings, she is trying to turn another strong position into her first LPGA Tour title.
“I try to be relaxed because like be leader group and also the leader score, you cannot stay on your score,” Yubol said. “You have to be moving up.”
Thitikul, a nine-time LPGA Tour winner, moved into third place with her 67 and will play in the final group.
“We’re playing golf because we love to be in contention,” Thitikul said. “We love to chasing the trophy.”
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Simon Bale
Simon Bale is the publisher of Golf Today. A low single-figure handicap golfer, he was previously a major shareholder and course reviewer for Top100GolfCourses.com for over a decade, starting in 2010. Through this role, he developed extensive knowledge of golf course design and architecture while playing more than 300 courses worldwide.