Washington (AFP) – Brittany Lincicome’s eagle and five birdies weren’t enough to see her into the final stages of the PGA Tour Barbasol Championship, where the stage was set for Sunday drama with four players tied for the lead.
Lincicome, her second round delayed until Saturday after storms twice halted play on Friday, carded a one-under par 71 at Keene Trace Golf Club in Nicholasville, Kentucky.
After her first-round 78, it wasn’t enough to make her the only woman besides Babe Zaharias in 1945 to make a 36-hole cut in a US PGA Tour event.
“I would’ve liked to have shot better (on Thursday),” said Lincicome, who accepted a sponsor’s exemption to become just the sixth woman to tee it up on the PGA Tour. “Obviously, today was a pretty nice day, so I guess ending with today’s round is a good way to leave.”
Lincicome, whose eight LPGA titles include two majors, highlighted her round with an eagle at the par-five 17th, where she holed her third shot.
“Right when I hit it I thought I hit it a little short,” Lincicome said. “I thought it was going to spin back a little bit on me. Then when it landed I was like, ‘OK, it’s on top,’ and then it rolled back and I was like, ‘Oh, my gosh!’”
The 32-year-old said the enduring benefit of her unusual week would be a greater ability to deal with nerves.
“With a major coming up, hopefully that first tee shot I won’t be as nervous,” she said. “I’ve learned to kind of play through the nerves this week, which is great.”
The men she left behind to battle for the trophy were set for a tense battle of their own come Sunday, with Robert Streb, Hunter Mahan, Tom Lovelady and Troy Merritt sharing the 54-hole lead on 18-under par 198, with another three players a stroke back and two more just two adrift.
– Everybody has a chance –
Merritt, leading after each of the first two rounds, carded a two-under par 69 in the third round.
Streb shot up the leaderboard with a nine-under 63 that included nine birdies without a bogey. Mahan carded a 64 and Lovelady a 65.
“(I) just tried to keep pace today,” Streb said. “Obviously the scores were very low, so everybody is making a bunch of birdies, and I was just trying to keep up and have a chance (Sunday).
“Everybody is going to have a chance at it.”
Mahan had eight birdies in his eight-under round and like Streb finished birdie-birdie to seize his share of the lead. Lovelady had an eagle and six birdies — including four in a row on the back nine — in his seven-under effort.
“Just had some good looks and made some good putts,” said Lovelady, who predicted another low score would be needed on Sunday.
“(It’s) just going to be the same: drive the ball in the fairway and give myself as many putts as I can.”
Sam Ryder and Blayne Barber both signed for 63s to lie one off the pace on 199, where they were joined by Billy Horschel (68).
Australia’s Cameron Percy (69) and American Ricy Werenski (68) were tied on 200.
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