By Danielle Daniels

Chanettee Wannasean LPGA Tour 3rd Round Leader, Dana Open, Toledo Ohio 7 21 2024 .mp3

Dana Open

Highland Meadows Golf Club| Sylvania, OH | July 18-21, 2024

Third-Round Notes

July 20, 2024

Course Setup: 34-37 – 71; 6,373

Scoring Average: R1: 71.224; R2:71.058; R3: 69.993

Weather: Sunny skies in the morning become partly cloudy by midday and into the afternoon with winds remaining light, mostly northwesterly with highs reaching the lower 80s

Race to CME Globe Points: 500 points (winner)

Purse: $1,750,000; winner’s portion is $262,500

TV/Streaming Times: How to watch

CHANETTEE WANNASAEN TAKES COMANDING LEAD AT DANA OPEN

During the third round of the Dana Open, Thailand’s Chanettee Wannasaen followed a career-low 36-hole score of 131 with a third-round 66, adding another new career-low to the record book with a 54-hole score of 197. At Highland Meadows Golf Club on Saturday, she recorded one bogey and six birdies, pairing her -5 round with her first-round 66 and second-round 65 to take a three-shot lead heading into Championship Sunday.

Starting her day with a one-shot lead ahead of defending champion Linn Grant and Xiyu Lin, Wannasaen recorded a quick birdie on the par-3 2nd hole for the second day in a row. She managed consistent play throughout the front nine, recording all pars and an additional birdie on the par-4 9th hole, but began to heat up on the back nine. Starting the back with two pars, she went on to record three consecutive birdies on holes 12, 13, and 14. Her first and only bogey of the day came on par-4 No. 16, but she bounced back with a birdie on No. 18 to end her round.

The last time Wannasaen showed such dominance to set career-low scores, she walked away a Rolex First-Time Winner at the 2023 Portland Classic. Before that victory, however, Wannasaen had missed eight cuts on the LPGA Tour, including at the Dana Open.

“Yeah, because last year I play in this tournament, too, but I didn’t did good,” said Wannasaen, who is coming off her best major championship finish, a T17 result at last week’s Amundi Evian Championship. “But this year is quite like play really good. So I didn’t expect like I’m going to play like this for this week because I’m fly from France and I think my body is a little bit tired. Yeah, I didn’t expect, but I really play well this week.”

Haeran Ryu stands alone in second place at 13-under. Ryu had one bogey and seven birdies in her third round, with back-to-back birdies on No. 17 and No. 18 to finish the day strong. She began the day tied for fifth place, but her consistent and strong play throughout the back-nine propelled her to make a push closer to the top of the leaderboard. She leads the entire field with 18 total birdies over the course of the tournament.

“Today I think almost same as every day today because I just keep green and I want to just try to one putt on the putting green,” said Ryu, who converted seven one-putts for birdie. “But today I can make some lot of long putts and made some a lot of birdies on the tricky hole That’s good today too, I think.”

Three players finished 11-under and are tied for third place, including defending champion Grant. The Swede finds herself in the mix even after recording her worst round of the tournament, a still solid 70. In her 2023 victory at Highland Meadows, Grant  held a six shot lead heading into the final round. She sits alongside Xiyu Lin and Ssu-Chia Cheng in third.

Additionally, three players are T6 and 10-under; rookie Mary Liu and Tour sophomores Lucy Li and Hyo Joon Jang. Native Ohioan Stacy Lewis shot -4 on Saturday to finish -9 overall alongside Sarah Kemp and Hye-Jin Choi.

WITH A WIN

Chanettee Wannasaen

• Would earn her second LPGA Tour victory and her first since the 2023 Portland Classic, which she won as a rookie
  • She became the third ever Monday Qualifier to win a LPGA Tour event and first since Brooke Henderson in 2015
• Would be the 14th different player on Tour to win this season
• Would be the third player from Thailand to win this season
  • She would join Patty Tavatankit (Honda LPGA Thailand) and Atthaya Thitikul (Dow Championship)
• Would be the seventh player from Thailand to earn at least two wins on the LPGA Tour
• Would cross the $1 million threshold in career earnings
• Would win the Dana Open in her second ever start at the Dana Open
  • She missed the cut last season
• Would earn her second solo career top-10 finish and third overall
  • She finished T3 at the Mizuho Americas Open and T8 at the Dow Championship with partner Jaravee Boonchant
• Would be the youngest winner on Tour this season at 20 years, three months, five days

Haeran Ryu:

• Would earn her second win on the LPGA Tour, following her inaugural victory as a rookie at the 2023 Walmart NW Arkansas Championship presented by P&G
  • Ryu was named the Louise Suggs Rolex Rookie of the Year in 2023
• Would be the second player from the Republic of Korea to win this season, joining Amy Yang (KPMG Women’s PGA Championship)
  • Would be the 30th different Korean player to earn more than one win on the LPGA Tour
• Would be the 14th different winner of the 2024 LPGA Tour season
• Would win the Dana Open in her second start at the event
  • She finished T19 in 2023
• Would surpass the $3 million mark in career earning with the $262,500 winner’s check
• Would earn her 13th top-10 result of her LPGA Tour career, and seventh of the 2024 season in 16 starts

Linn Grant

• Would earn her second LPGA Tour victory and successfully defend her title at the Dana Open, which she won in 2023 to become a Rolex First-Time winner on Tour
  • Would be just the second player in the 40-year history of the Dana Open to defend their title at the event, joining Se Ri Pak (1998, 1999)
  • Would be the fifth player to win the Dana Open at least twice, joining Pak (5 wins), Penny Hammel (2), Kelly Robbins (2) and Lydia Ko (2)
  • Would earn her second win in her second start at the Dana Open
• Would earn her second professional victory in 2024, following her win at the Volvo Car Scandinavian Mixed on the Ladie’s European Tour
• Would be second player from Sweden to win on the LPGA Tour this season, joining Linnea Strom (ShopRite LPGA Classic Presented by Acer)
  • Would be the eighth Swede to earn at least two wins on the LPGA Tour
• Would be the 14th different winner of the 2024 LPGA Tour season

Ssu-Chia Cheng

• Would become the Tour’s third Rolex First-Time Winner this season, joining Bailey Tardy (Blue Bay LPGA) and Linnea Strom (ShopRite LPGA Classic presented by Acer)
• Would be the 14th different player on Tour to win this season
• Would be the seventh player from Chinese Taipei to win at least once on the LPGA Tour
  • She would be the first player from Chinese Taipei to win a LPGA Tour event since Wei-Ling Hsu won the 2021 Pure Silk Championship presented by Visit Williamsburg
• Would earn just her second-career top-10 finish
  • Her first came at the 2024 Dow Championship with Hsu as her partner
• Would earn a win at the Dana Open in her third start at the event, beating her previous best finish if T15 in 2021

Xiyu Lin

• Would become the Tour’s third Rolex First-Time Winner this season, joining Bailey Tardy (Blue Bay LPGA) and Linnea Strom (ShopRite LPGA Classic presented by Acer)
• Would be the 14th different player on Tour to win this season
• Would be the second player from the People’s Republic of China to win on Tour this season joining Ruoning Yin (Dow Championship)
• Would become the third player ever to win from the People’s Republic of China joining Yin and Shanshan Feng
• Would win in her 225th official start on Tour
• Would be the second-oldest winner on Tour this season at 28 years, four months and 19 days
  • Amy Yang is the oldest winner this season at 34 years, 10 months and 26 days

A LOOK AT THE LEADER

ABOUT THE LEADER

Rolex Rankings No. 43 Chanettee Wannasaen

• Wannasaen hit 12 of 14 fairways and 16 of 18 greens with 29 putts
  • She had one bogey and six birdies on the card, including three in a row on 12-14
  • She has 17 total birdies this week, tied for second most in the field
  • She has needed 78 total putts to get through three rounds, tied for least in the field
• This is the second week in a row and this season that Wannasaen has opened with three rounds in the 60s
  • She also did so at the Amundi Evian Championship last week
• Her three-day score of 197 is her lowest on the LPGA Tour
  • Her previous low 54-hole score was 199, which she shot on her way to victory at the 2023 Portland Classic
  • This season, her lowest 54-hole score was a 205 at last week’s Amundi Evian Championship
• Her 36-hole score of 131 was also a new career low
  • Her previous best was a 134 during the Portland Classic
  • Her lowest 36-hole score of this season was previously 138, which she shot at the Amundi Evian Championship
• Her second-round 65 ties her second lowest 18-hole score of the season
  • She first set the mark in the first round of the JM Eagle LA Championship presented by Plastpro, as well as the fourth round of the Mizuho Americas Open
  • Her lowest 18-hole score of the season is a 64 set in the third round of the Honda LPGA Thailand
• This is her first time leading or co-leading after 54 holes on the LPGA Tour
  • Her 36-hole lead was also the first in her LPGA Tour career
• This is her second start at the Dana Open
  • In 2023 she missed the cut
• This is her 18th start of the 2024 season
  • She has made 14 cuts with two top-10 finishes
  • Her season-best finish is a T3 finish at the Mizuho Americas Open
• Wannasaen is in her sophomore season on the LPGA Tour
  • She won her first ever LPGA Tour tournament at the 2023 Portland Classic and has two additional top-10 finishes
• She has two wins on the TLPGA Tour, both coming in 2022
  • She won at the Singha Pattaya Ladies Open and the SAT-NSDF 5th Thai LPGA Championship
• She also has one LET Access Series win at the 2022 Trust Golf Link Series – Ramside Hall

THINGS TO KNOW

• Tour sophomore Haeran Ryu sits in solo second at -13 overall
  • She shot a 6-under 65 on Saturday to move from T5
  • Ryu made seven birdies and one bogey during her third round
  • Ryu needed just 27 putts to get through the third-round, including seven one-putts that she converted for birdies
  • With 18 total birdies, Ryu has the most of anyone in the field
• Three players are -11 and tied at T3 heading into Championship Sunday
  • Defending champion Linn Grant shot -1 on Saturday
    • Grant has 17 total birdies, tied for second most in the field
    • In her 2023 victory, Grant held a six stroke lead going into the final round
  • Xiyu Lin is also tied for third
    • Lin was +3 after 11 holes, but birdied four of her last five holes to finish in the red
    • Lin’s 17 total birdies are also tied for second most in the field
  • Ssu-Chia Cheng had six birdies and a bogey on Saturday
    • She also has 17 total birdies
• Three players are tied for T6 at -10 including Tour rookie Mary Liu and sophomores Hyo Joon Jang and Lucy Li
• Ohio native Stacy Lewis is T9 alongside two others: Sarah Kemp and Hye-Jin Choi
• Lewis’s fellow Ohioan Allie White shot +3 on Saturday, following her rounds of 67 and 71 with a 74
• Sponsor invite:
  • Erica Shepherd is the only one of the three sponsor invites to make the cut
    • Shepherd is +1 overall after a +1 round on Saturday

QUOTABLES

Haeran Ryu on her 6-under round today

“Today I think almost same as every day today because I just keep green and I want to just try to one putt and the putting green. But today I can make some lot of long putts and made some a lot of birdies on the tricky hole. That’s good today too, I think.”

2024 LPGA Tour rookie Malia Nam on recording a 7-under, the lowest round of the week

“Today definitely had some putts drop. Yesterday I was hitting my irons well and hitting my driver well, but just couldn’t really convert. So I knew it had it in me to get a low score in there. Yeah, honestly, just hitting good iron shots and having the putts drop for me today.”

Toledo native Stacy Lewis on what she has thought of so many players going so low this week

“I think it’s just the level of play of this tour. I’ll tell you from ten years ago we’re playing a much longer golf course. We’re on the backs of almost every tee box now and the scores just continue to get better. That’s just the level of play out here. These girls are really, really good. They’re young and they’re coming out ready to play at 20, 21, 22 years old. So it’s just become — it’s slowly become harder and harder to win because there are so many good players.”

Defending champion Linn Grant on what the mindset heading into tomorrow’s final round will be

“I think last year I had a minus-9 and a minus-7, so I know that this is possible on this course. I also know playing in the last group it’s quite nerve-wracking. It’s not always that the scores are super low, so for me I’m just going to go out and try to play like I’ve done the last two days and see how far that goes.”

ON LPGA.COM

Third Round Highlights: 2024 Dana Open

Chanettee Wannasaen Third Round Highlights

Haeran Ryu Third Round Highlights

SOCIAL SNAPSHOT

Info on This Week’s Aon Risk Reward Challenge Hole

Celebration Worthy Putt for Sarah Kemp

Great Approach Shot by Haeran Ryu

Clutch Par-Save for Mary Liu

Defending Champion Linn Grant’s Scoring Average in Her Last Six Rounds at Highland Meadows

TOURNAMENT SCORING RECORDS AT HIGHLAND MEADOWS:

18 holes: 60, Paula Creamer (R1, 2008)

36 holes: 125, Paula Creamer (2008)

54 holes: 194, Nasa Hataoka (2021)

72 holes: 261, Se Ri Pak (1998)

COURTESY LPGA COMMUNICATIONS