Nancy Gulbis shares the lead with two others at season-ending CME Group Titleholders
NAPLES, Fla. -- Stacy Lewis couldn't get anything going in the first two rounds of the LPGA tour's season-ending CME Group Titleholders.
She had everything going in Saturday's third round.
So, too, did Natalie Gulbis.
Starting the day 11 shots behind leader Sandra Gal, Lewis, the reigning Ricoh Women's British Open champion, stormed up the leaderboard with a 9-under-par 63 on a hot, calm day at Tiburon Golf Club. Keyed by a hole-out eagle from 177 yards with a 5-iron on the third hole, Lewis, who started with rounds of 71-73, also rattled off six birdies in a seven-hole stretch on the back nine to move within two shots of the leaders on the star-studded scoreboard.
Gulbis, who began the year battling a nasty case of malaria and missed five events, shot 65 to move to 11 under par and into a share of the lead with Pornanong Phatlum (67) and Gerina Piller (67). Lewis is in a group at 9 under with Gal (73), Shanshan Fang (67) and Lexi Thompson (67), who has won two of the last four LPGA tour tournaments.
Michelle Wie (66) is alone at 8 under, while Cristie Kerr (71) and world No. 1 Inbee Park (69) are in a group of four at 7 under.
"The hole-out was definitely a nice way to get started and then from there it was actually pretty easy. ... It's definitely one of the best rounds of the year," said Lewis, ranked No. 3 in the world and last year the first American to win player of the year honors in 18 years.
" ... Honestly, I didn't think I was out of it ... just the way this course plays with the wind. I didn't think anybody was going to run away with it so I knew I wasn't out of it. ... I've been working on my swing all week and I felt a lot more comfortable today."
Stacy Lewis started the third round Saturday 11 off the lead but ended just two behind Natalie Gulbis and two others at the CME Group Titleholders in Naples, Fla.
At the start of the day, Lewis was eyeing the Vare Trophy for lowest scoring average, hoping to become the first American to win the award in 19 years. Barring a total collapse, she will edge world No. 2 Suzann Pettersen to win the award Sunday. Lewis also could pass Park for the money title if she wins for the fourth time this season and takes home the $700,000 first-place prize, the largest in women's golf.
"I wanted to play good today just to kind of take all the worry out of (Sunday) for the Vare Trophy," said Lewis, who has a tour-leading 18 top-10s this season. "I definitely overachieved what I thought I could do on this golf course, so I'm right back in the mix of things. I think I'm going to have to do it again, probably maybe not as low, but it's got to be a good one again (Sunday) to be right there to win."
Gulbis, whose lone win on the LPGA tour came in 2007, had her lowest round of the season by three shots.
"It seems like a very, very long time ago," Gulbis said of her win in 2007. "I think about it all day long, every time I go to the course, every time I'm hitting golf balls. I've played some good golf but I haven't won. It motivates me."
Wie, the former teen phenom, is looking for her third LPGA tour title, her first since 2010 and first on U.S. soil.
"I finally made some putts, finally felt like I was playing on the same course that everyone else was playing on, the course that everyone with the low numbers are," said Wie, who nearly won three major championships as a 16-year-old in 2006. "It was a fun day out there."
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