Xiyu Lin eagled the 17th hole late in the day to overtake Atthaya Thitikul and Lizette Salas.
Xiyu Lin eagled the 17th hole to vault into the lead Thursday at the Ascendant LPGA Benefiting Volunteers of America.
Lin had five birdies and a bogey and shot a first-round 65, finishing late in the day to overtake rookie Atthaya Thitikul and veteran Lizette Salas by a shot at Old American Golf Club in The Colony, Texas.
Thitikul already has two LPGA wins this season and has climbed to No. 3 in the Rolex Rankings.
Lexi Thompson is among those tied for fourth, two shots back. Nelly Korda, who could be in position to reclaim the top spot in the rankings, opened with a 4-over 75. She had six bogeys and just two birdies and sits tied for 91st.
Seven of the top-10 players in the world are early entries into the tournament, including No. Jin Young Ko.
The LPGA’s fall Texas stop is getting a new name as Ascendant National Title steps in to co-sponsor the event with Volunteers of America in a new multi-year partnership, organizers announced. The event will now be called The Ascendant LPGA benefiting Volunteers of America and will be held Sept. 29-Oct. 2 at Old American Golf Club in The Colony, Texas, just outside Dallas.
The field of 132 will also play for an increased purse of $200,000 to $1.7 million total.
Seven of the top-10 players in the world are early entries into the tournament, including Jin Young Ko (1), Nelly Korda (3), Lydia Ko (4), Henderson (5), Atthaya Thitikul (6), Nasa Hataoka (9) and In Gee Chun (10).
Texans Angela Stanford (2020) and Cheyenne Knight (2019) are both past champions of the event. South Korea’s Ko is one of several international players who now call Texas home.
Angela Stanford poses with the trophy after winning the Volunteers of America Classic at the Old American Golf Club on December 6, 2020 in The Colony, Texas. (Photo: Chuck Burton/Getty Images)
“We are incredibly honored and excited to join the LPGA Tour family as co-title sponsor for the Ascendant LPGA benefiting Volunteers of America,” Ascendant National Title President and CEO, Len Franco said in a release. “None of this would have been possible without our parent company and partner, Cypress Ascendant, and their generous support and vision for this partnership. We look forward to expanding our presence in professional golf by supporting and empowering female athletes through our partnership. We are thrilled to be hosting this world-class championship in The Colony this fall.”
Ascendant National Title is a national title and escrow company and is the official Title Insurer of the PGA Tour.
Amateurs Bailey Shoemaker, Michelle Zhang, and Avery Zweig will be competing on sponsor exemptions at the event. Shoemaker, a rising high school senior who is committed to USC, won the Kathy Whitworth Invitational in back-to-back years.
Zhang, a freshman at SMU, won the 2022 Volunteers of America Classic Girls Championship in July while Zweig, a high school sophomore from McKinney, won the event last year and took a share of second in 2022.
Yealimi Noh, Inbee Park and So Yeon Ryu lead the Volunteers of America Classic after 54 holes.
The Volunteers of America title is anyone’s for the taking through 54 holes, although 19-year-old Yealimi Noh is making it especially interesting.
After carding a 66 Friday, the second round’s lowest score, Noh finished Saturday even-par 71 to sit in a three-way tie for the lead at 4 under at Old American Golf Club.
Noh, who split the 36-hole lead with Anna Nordqvist and Jessica Korda, began her round with birdies on Nos. 2 and 6 and added a bogey on 8. She added another bogey on 11 to sit at even par for the day before carding birdies on 13 and 17. Looking for her first LPGA win, Noh looked as if she would carry a two-shot lead into the final round, but double-bogeyed 18 to lose her sole lead and sit tied with Inbee Park and So Yeon Ryu.
The rookie most recently finished T-39 at the Pelican Women’s Championship and T-24 at the LPGA Drive On Championship. In her 13 appearances on tour, her best finish has been a T-3 at the Cambia Portland Classic in September.
Se Yeon Ruy on the 12th hole during the third round of the 2020 Volunteers of America Classic at the Old American Golf Club in The Colony, Texas. (Chuck Burton/Getty Images)
Park took a turn atop the leaderboard after back-to-back birdies on Nos. 8 and 9, but a bogey on 11 dropped her from the top spot. She finished Saturday 2 under 69.
In her first event back on the LPGA since February, Ryu carded the lowest round of the week Saturday with a 6-under 65, bouncing back from consecutive 72s at Old American. She carded five birdies on the front nine and added one more on 13 to finish bogey-free.
Nordqvist lost her share of the lead early with a bogey on No. 1, but bounced back quickly, birdieing Nos. 2 and 3 to finish the front nine 1 under. She added three more bogeys on the back nine to finish T-11 at 2 under entering Sunday.
Angela Stanford, who sat T-5 after the second round, carded three birdies in her first five holes Saturday to sit in contention for 54-hole leader, but bogeys 11 and 13 and a double on 14 sent her down the leaderboard. She rebounded back with an eagle 18 to sit T-4 at 3 under alongside six other players including first-round leader Charley Hull, Korda and World No. 1 Jin Young Ko.
Korda finished the day 1-over 72 after carding five bogeys, four on the front nine, in her third round while Ko went 1-under 70.
Anna Nordqvist shares the lead at at the Volunteers of America Classic with Jessica Korda and Yealimi Noh after she bogeyed her final hole.
With the threat of the setting sun in The Colony, Texas, closing in, Anna Nordqvist bogeyed the 18th hole Friday at Old American Golf Club to give away her solo lead and fall into a three-way tie.
Nordqvist, who led for most of the back nine at 5 under, bogeyed the par-4 18th to lead at 4 under through 36 holes alongside Jessica Korda and Yealimi Noh at the Volunteers of America Classic.
Jessica Korda jumped to an early lead Friday after reaching the turn at 3 under, but a bogey on 13 gave way for Nordqvist to capture the sole lead at 5 under with a birdie on 12, her fourth of the day. Korda finished her second round 2 under to card her second-straight 69.
Nordqvist, who was bogey free during the second round until her bogey on 18, finished the day 3-under 68. She shot a 70 in the opening round in which she bogeyed Nos. 1-3 and 18.
Noh carded the lowest round of the day at 5-under 66.
Lindsey Weaver sits in solo fourth at 3 under following a 3-under 68. Jin Young Ko, Angela Stanford and Madelene Sagstrom, who shot 69s, sit T-5 at 2 under alongside Inbee Park (68) and Pornanong Phatlum (71). At 1 under and T-10 are Kelly Tan, Nasa Hataoka, Linnea Strom and Brittany Lang.
First-round leader Charley Hull followed her opening-round 68 with 3-over 74 on Friday. Hull, who began the day at 3 under, went 2 over on the front nine after recording bogeys on Nos. 7 and 9. She added a third bogey on 11 and a double bogey on 12. Hull added two birdies on Nos. 14 and 17 to finish the day 3 over. The 24-year-old sits T-14 at even par through 36 holes.
Haley Moore, who sits at 7 over after rounds of 73 and 76, made the cut. Among those to miss the cut at 8 over were Maria Fassi, Tiffany Joh and amateur Alexa Pano.
