Meadow rallies at Walton Heath; Higgins wins Irish PGA
TADWORTH, ENGLAND - AUGUST 12: Charley Hull of England reacts to a missed par putt on the 14th green on Day Three of the AIG Women's Open at Walton Heath Golf Club on August 12, 2023 in Tadworth, England. (Photo by Richard Heathcote/R&A/R&A via Getty Images)
Stephanie Meadow was proud of her resilience as she overcame a poor start and stormed home in three-under par to card a third-round 70 and put herself in position to claim a big payday in the AIG Women’s Open at Walton Heath.
The Jordanstown star was two-over par through four holes in windy conditions, but she birdied the sixth to turn in two over for the championship before picking up shots at the 11th, 12th and 16th.
Her 70 left her tied 17th on one-under and eight shots behind Lilia Vu and home favourite Charley Hull, who lead by a shot on nine-under from Angel Yin and Korea’s Hyo Joo Kim on nine-under.
American Ally Ewing, who led by five strokes at halfway, shot 75 to slip back to solo fifth, two behind the leaders on eight-under.
“I think I love days like today where you can shoot around par and move up a ton,” Meadow said. “Happy with how I handled myself and just kept going.”
As for her hopes for Sunday, she said: “Who knows, depends on the weather. But I'm very happy with what I did today and I'll just keep thinking about the same things, and yeah, see where we end when it's all said and done.”
Leona Maguire was one under for the day after back-to-back birdies at the 10th and 11th but again had 34 putts as she dropped three shots coming home en route to a 74 that left her joint 44th on two-over.
American Vu captured her first Major title in the Chevron Championship in April. After missing the cut in the KPMG Women’s PGA and the US Women’s Open and finishing 42nd in the Evian Championship, she’s finally regained her confidence.
“I'm just going to do the same thing I did today, just focusing on tee shots and giving myself a good opportunity for birdies, and just do that tomorrow, not think too much about the wind,” Vu said after carding a five-under 67.
“Because every time that happens, it just slips away from me.”
Hull made six birdies, including three in a row at the 15th, 16th and 17th to card a 68 and join Vu in a share of the lead.
Asked how it might feel to win her first Major on home soil, she said: “It would be absolutely unbelievable. What Georgia (Hall) did in 2017, or 2018, I can't remember what it was, that was unbelievable. To do that again would be unreal. But one step at a time and just go out there and have fun.”
As for Ewing, she found the windy conditions a challenge and dropped three shots in her first six holes but was pleased to play the remainder in level par to stay in the hunt for her first Major win.
“Obviously the situation was tough, coming out with pretty windy conditions,” Ewing said. “Took me a little bit longer than I would have liked to settle in.
“The nerves were obviously there, but at the same time, I was mentally in a good place to know that I was going to be presented with challenges.
“Didn't execute shots quite like I wanted to early on, but I fought really hard today, and you know I'm teeing it up tomorrow with still a great chance to win this golf tournament.“
Meanwhile, David Higgins added a one-over 73 to rounds of 73 and 70 to win the 113th Irish PGA Championship at Carne Golf Links.
The Waterville man could afford to finish with a triple bogey eight and still win his third Irish PGA title by one stroke from Spa’s Simon Thornton and by three from Kilkenny’s Jimmy Bolger on one-under par.
On the Challenge Tour, Jonathan Caldwell shot a level par 71 to go into the final round of the Farmfoods Scottish Challenge in a six-way tie for third in eight-under, just one shot behind Scotland’s Craig Lee and England’s Sam Bairstow.
