Apr 14, 2018: Brooke Henderson entered Friday with a two shot lead and made three birdies on her outward nine to stretch her lead to five at the turn at the LOTTE Championship. Aditi Ashok shot one-over 69, through 17 holes before the round got suspended due to darkness.
Instead of building on her comfortable cushion on the back nine, Henderson stumbled coming home. After a birdie on the par-5 13th got her to 12-under, Henderson made a four-putt double on the par-3 16th to slide back to 10-under. Then, she went long on her approach on 18 and made bogey from the back bunker to finish at 9-under.
“I hit it so well today that it kind of sucks to walk off the course 1-over when I know it could’ve been so much better,” explained a disappointed Henderson. “But on the plus side I’m still leading, which is always great going into the final round. Hopefully I can hit it just as well as I had today and hopefully make a few more putts.”
Henderson’s once five-shot lead had nearly completely evaporated as she’ll take a one-shot lead into the final-round. The Canadian posted a 1-over, 73 on Friday. Mo Martin made an eagle on 13 and a tricky 4-foot par on 18 to post a 72 to remain at 8-under.
“I’ve been kind of struggling with my putting all year,” said Henderson, who attempted 35 putts in round three. “First few rounds, I had it going and I felt confident with it; then on the back nine I just kept missing I just felt like every single putt and kind of I got a little bit down. That’s always a terrible way to be, especially when you’re still leading the tournament.”
Nasa Hataoka and Inbee Park are just two back of Henderson at 7-under. Lizette Salas and Shanshan Feng are three back while Pernilla Lindberg and Daniela Iacobelli are just four back with 18 holes to play.
While it’s only a slim cushion, Henderson remained upbeat knowing she’ll have a chance at win number six.
“I would’ve liked it to be a lot more, but one shot is good. I know there are still a ton of really talented players really close behind me, so I’ll have to go out and make a lot of birdies and hopefully it’s my day.”
After the front nine, Henderson had made just one bogey and 13 birdies over the first 45 holes of the tournament.