Entering the final round of the Blue Bay LPGA, young stars Rio Takeda, Auston Kim, Cassie Porter and Gigi Stoll have taken control.
Takeda is the one out in front of everyone, with a two stroke advantage over the log jam in second place. She currently sits at -9 after a strong -3 round, her third straight round of 69.
The consistency and skill with Takeda, who currently leads the rookie of the year standings, are undeniable, even with her lack of control off the tee. Takeda has hit only 24/42 fairways this week, which included just six in the third round. Regardless, her scrambling ability was on full display. She hits the ball long and putts well enough to recover.
Gigi Stoll, who had one of the rounds of the day, is looking for her first LPGA Tour win in her second season on tour. The 2018 team National Champion at the University of Arizona shot a -4 round to get into a tie for second place. Stoll’s accuracy has also been a problem, but she had just 24 putts in this round.
Kim overcame a double bogey on the back nine to shoot -2 for the round after having birdies on the first three holes. Obviously the power of Kim was on full display as usual, averaging 290 yards off the tee.
Finally, the rookie Porter had the weakest round of those in the top four, shooting even par with a double and three bogeys. This week so far, Porter has only needed 77 putts through three rounds.
The final round airs on Golf Channel tonight.
