PITTSFORD, New York, 23 June 2003 — Australia’s Rachel Teske, seeking her second title in as many weeks, fired a par 72 and doubled her lead on the field to four strokes here Saturday at the $1.2 million-dollar Rochester LPGA event.
Teske finished 54 holes at seven-under par 209 with South Koreans Se Ri Pak and Soo-Yun Kang joining Americans Brandie Burton and Stephanie Louden in a share of second. The Koreans fired 72s while the US players each fired 70s, but all four knew it would take a greater showing in the final round to deny Teske.
“All we can do is make some more putts,” Pak said. “My balls just never went in. I need to concentrate on birdies and not just saving pars. I will give my best in the final round and just try to play great.”
On a difficult day when only 11 players cracked par, Teske made 16 pars. Her lone birdie came at the 502-yard par-5 fourth hole when she sank a 20-foot putt and her lone bogey came two holes later when she two-putted from 10 feet.
“It was a little bit tougher out there than I thought it would be and I tried to hang in there, keep playing some shots and worked on making birdies,” Teske said.
Teske won a four-way LPGA playoff last week that included Swedish superstar Annika Sorenstam, who was denied her third straight title. Teske birdied the third playoff hole to end an 11-month drought for her seventh career victory.
Teske, 10th on the LPGA money list, doubled her season winnings with $150,000 last week and cannot remember ever having a four-stroke lead entering a final round. And this is her fifth tournament in a row.
A 15-foot putt to save par at 18 gave Teske confidence for Sunday.
Pak birdied the 18th to keep herself in the title hunt. Kang had a double bogey at the second hole, a bogey at the fourth and another at the par-3 seventh, but made four birdies in five holes starting at the 11th to right the ship and salvage her hopes of making a run for victory.
Rain Forces Suspension
of PGA Play
In Harrison, New York, lightning and severe rain here on Saturday forced suspension of the third round of the five million-dollar PGA Buick Classic with unheralded American Briny Baird leading by two strokes.
A Westchester Country Club course already drenched by a week of rain suffered even more moisture from the skies, with a 76-minute morning delay and a severe afternoon storm closing down play with all players on the course.
Players began the third round in threesomes from the first and 10th holes in a vain bid to beat the expected showers. Officials were to resume the third round the next morning and try to start the final round just before noon.
Baird was at 11-under par after five holes with Skip Kendall second, one stroke ahead of Tom Gillis and Joey Sindelar.
Couples, seeking his first PGA title since 1996, shared fifth with John Rollins at seven-under par.
South Africa’s Ernie Els, who won the PGA’s first two events of the season, is tied for seventh with seven others, including countryman Retief Goosen and Spain’s Sergio Garcia. Tiger Woods is tied for 15th at five under par after seven holes.
Conditions are expected to clear today, but the rain could cause the US PGA Tour to shorten the event to 54 holes.
No US PGA event has been shortened to 54 holes since 2000 in Atlanta, when Phil Mickelson defeated Gary Nicklaus in a playoff. The last tournament stretched to Monday due to rain was the 2001 Players Championship won by Woods.
Baird said the wet weather might improve the odds at him claiming his first PGA crown. Both Baird and Kendall aimed to play 30 holes the next day.
