Sunday showdown

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 29/08/2010 (5753 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

WINNIPEG –A troubleshooting Saturday set up a Sunday stare-down for Michelle Wie and Jiyai Shin at the CN Canadian Women’s Open golf championship.

Wie, the second-round leader by three shots, had putting problems and managed only an even-par 72 in her third round.

Shin, playing a third straight day with long-hitting Wie, couldn’t locate her tempo. Her skill, mind you, showed through, as she managed a 69 to erase the gap and join Wie at 10-under 206 through three days.

Competitors and fans alike had issues with the off-target weatherman Saturday. A chance of rain turned into a six-hour shower, softening the course and dramatically softening the conditions from earlier in the week.

And the most reviled creatures of a Winnipeg summer, mosquitoes, arrived for the championship, supplanting golf balls as the most swatted objects of the day.

“I found out they were a little better on the greens and fairways. They were very bad in the rough,” Wie said of the mosquitoes, identifying a great incentive to hit it straight.

Wie and Shin, Sunday’s last pairing, are four shots clear of South Koreans Jee Young Lee and Na Yeon Choi and defending champ Suzann Pettersen of Norway at 6-under.

“I felt like I left a lot of putts out there,” Wie added. “I felt like I could have made a lot of them.

“I think Jiyai played awesome today and it was fun today playing with her. Hopefully I can make a lot more putts and see where things go.”

Lorie Kane of Charlottetown shot 68 on Saturday to move to even-par 216 after three rounds and is tied for 26th.
Lisa Meldrim of Montreal shot 71 and is at 2-over 218, while Adrienne White of Red Deer, Alta., shot 75 to go 3-over for the tournament.

Shin, the No. 4-ranked player in the world, twice reeled in Wie on Saturday.

She had erased the three-shot gap by the eighth hole, fell behind again but drew even once more with a birdie at No. 17.

“Just my tempo I think,” Shin said when asked what her biggest issues were apart from the bugs. “They tried to kill me,” she laughed.

“My tempo was so fast because Michelle made a birdie on 10 and after that I tried to be more aggressive. So that made my tempo faster. And then it worked.

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“I think tomorrow should be a fun game. I am really comfortable playing with Michelle. I know her playing, her style. I think she knows my play, too.”

Shin, the winner of the Evian Masters with a closing 67 less than a month ago, has recorded five final rounds in the 60s this season.

Wie has three final days in the 60s out of 13 tournaments in a winless 2010 and hasn’t had a top-10 since May.
If any challengers come out of the pack, overtaking co-leaders will be difficult.

Catriona Matthew, with a 67, rallied into a tie for sixth at 5-under with In-Kyung Kim and Karen Icher. Paula Creamer, after a gritty 70, and Morgan Pressel are on the perimeter at 4-under, six back.

tim.campbell@freepress.mb.ca