Golf is an incredibly difficult game, but it’s a lot easier when you’re playing from the fairway.
Just ask Azahara Munoz.
The Spaniard was precise off the tee and followed suit on the greens during Saturday’s third round of the Ladies Scottish Open, making her way around Renaissance Club in North Berwick, Scotland, at 2-under 69 to claim the 54-hole lead at 7 under. Americans Stacy Lewis and Jennifer Song are one and two shots back, respectively. Lydia Ko and Cheyenne Knight are T-4 at 4 under.
“Today I think I literally hit every fairway, lots of greens,” said Munoz of her round. “Maybe I could’ve made a few more putts today but still made some nice ones, some nice par saves. The pins were so tricky, a couple holes into the wind were playing really long and overall I kept managing myself well like the last couple days.”
Last week Munoz was disqualified from the Marathon LPGA Classic, the tour’s second event back after an extended break due to the coronavirus pandemic, after failing to sign her scorecard after the final round. The 32-year-old got right back on track during Thursday’s opening round, making an eagle on the first hole of the Ladies Scottish Open while playing in the first group.
Ladies Scottish Open: Leaderboard
On Sunday she’ll be in the final group looking for her second LPGA win.
“Yeah, I’m enjoying being out there so much. I don’t know, I think this break was really good for me,” said Munoz of the time off. “I just came back and I just want to play golf. I just want to enjoy myself. I’m going to do my best, so at the end of the day, wherever that puts me, it puts me. But in the past, I think I always get a little upset if things don’t work out or whatever, but I always give my hundred percent. As long as I do that, that’s all I can do.”
Ko had a heartbreaking finish of her own last week at the Marathon LPGA Classic, making double bogey on the final hole to lose to Danielle Kang by one. Six days later in Scotland, Ko fired off the low round of the day, a bogey-free 4-under 67 to get right back in the mix.
“Almost having a tournament right after makes you focus on what’s right there in front of you and I think maybe less think about what happened at Marathon,” said Ko. “Obviously I would have loved to have had one more higher finish in the end. There’s a lot about what happened to me on the last hole. But you have to talk about what amazing golf Danielle played. I just think it really wasn’t meant to be.”
She continued: “I was joking, I haven’t been in this position in a while, so it was just nice to be back in contention and just feeling those kind of different nerves and that excitement, but just having this tournament right after, it made me focus on just this week, and obviously links golf is a little bit different, so I’ve just been focusing on what’s happening right now and not get too carried away about what happened, because most of it was some of the best golf that I played in a long time.”
Bogey-free golf is a great round anywhere, let alone at a professional tournament across the pond. Just how good was Ko’s 4 under? Only 18 players of the 70 remaining were under par on Saturday.
“It’s nice, no matter where you play, to have a bogey-free round like that. I think when I was out of position, I was able to make up-and-down,” said Ko of her performance. “Sometimes you have to get lucky having a good lie in the bunker or just off the greens, as well, but I feel like overall, I stayed believing in my game and being aggressive when I needed to and then being a little bit safer when it was a tough pin position, as well.”
“I think you kind of have to manage that really well, and that will give me a good lesson for next week at the British Open.”
