By Richard G. Mason

Dana Open

Highland Meadows Golf Club | Sylvania, Ohio | July 13-16, 2023

Third-Round Notes

July 15, 2023

Course Setup: 34-37 – 71; 6,376 yards

Scoring Average: R1: 70.170, R2: 70.909, R3

Weather: Waves of showers and thunderstorms make their way around the area with highs only reaching the mid-70s; winds peaked during the afternoon reaching around 5-10 mph.

Race to CME Globe Points: 500 (winner)

Purse: $1.75 million (Winner’s portion: $262,500)

TV/Streaming Times: How to Watch

LINN GRANT POISED FOR FIRST LPGA TOUR WIN AFTER THIRD-ROUND 62 AT DANA OPEN

Sweden’s Linn Grant began her day tied for second teeing off on No. 1 on Saturday at the Dana Open. It only took one hole before Grant began to find her groove, stringing together four-straight birdies to put her in sole possession of first. She recorded back-to-back pars on Nos. 6 and 7 before the horn blew for a rain delay. Grant took that time to shake out the nerves and reset, a decision that would prove to be fruitful. Four hours later, Grant would resume play, finishing out her 9th hole with a birdie, and carried that momentum with a hole out from 149 yards out on 11 for her second eagle of the year. Grant, who is already a five-time winner on the Ladies European Tour, was 9-under through 13 holes, and on a potential path towards the second-ever 59 in Tour history.

After a bogey on her 16th, Grant needed an eagle and a birdie between the closing par-5s (17 and 18), but she settled for a solo birdie on No. 17 for a final 9-under 62 to take a six-shot lead at -18 with 18 holes remaining.

“Well, yeah, obviously we had a delay in the middle of it pretty much,” Grant said, who could become the season’s sixth Rolex First-Time Winner on Sunday. “I was 4-under at the time. Had to go in. I wasn’t really feeling as confident as I would like to, but I found some good swings on the range and felt better going out after the delay. (Hole) 11 was amazing. Like, I hit a really good drive and a really good second shot, it just took one bounce pretty much and went in. I think it’s my first hole-out eagle probably. Just really cool.”

Five players are tied for second at -12 including Stephanie Kyriacou, Maria Fassi, Matilda Castren, Emily Pedersen and Allisen Corpuz. Kyriacou, who began her day T20, carded eight birdies in her third round, tied for the most among the field on Saturday. Castren saw seven recorded birdies while Fassi, Pedersen and Corpuz each recorded five birdies on their way to T2.

“I think my putting has been pretty good,” Kyriacou said about what she took advantage of today. “I actually changed putters for the first time in like 12 years, so it was either going to be really good or really bad. So I’m glad it was really good. But, yeah, I holed some nice putts, I’ve given myself some opportunities as well, which has been good but really converted them.”

The 36-hole leader Annie Park and major champion Minjee Lee finished tied for seventh at -11. Five players round out the top-10 at T9 including: Aditi Ashok, Xiyu Lin, Gemma Dryburgh, Jaravee Boonchant and 2022 Dana Open Champion Gaby Lopez.

A LOOK AT THE LEADER

Rolex Rankings No. 28, Linn Grant (1, 195)

• Grant hit 11 of 14 fairways, 17 of 18 greens with 27 putts
  • She recorded eight birdies in her third round, tied for the most among the field on Saturday
  • She has carded 19 total birdies, tied for the most in the field through 54 holes
  • She holed out on No. 11 for her first eagle of the event
    • It is her second eagle on the year and the sixth of her Tour career
• Grant finished two strokes shy of tying the 18-hole record and one stroke off tying the 54-hole record after finishing her third round -9 62 to get to -18 195 overall
  • Paula Creamer set the 18-hole record in her 2008 win (60, R1)
  • Nasa Hataoka set the 54-hole course record in her 2021 win (194)
  • Se Ri Pak set the 72-hole record in her 1998 win (261)
• Her 62 ties the lowest 18-hole score recorded this season on Tour
  • Georgia Hall also recorded a 9-under 62 in the third round of the 2023 DIO Implant LA Open
• 62 is Grant’s career-low 18-hole score
  • Her previous was a 64 in her final round at the Amundi Evian Championship in 2022
• 195 is her career-low 54-hole score
  • Her previous low was 206 which she shot at the 2022 Toto Japan Classic
• Her 195 is also the lowest 54-hole score on Tour this season
• This is her first 54-hole lead or co-lead on Tour
  • Her six-stroke lead is the largest 54-hole lead on Tour this season
• This is Grant’s sixth event of the 2023 LPGA Tour season
  • This is her first time at the Dana Open
  • Her season-best finish is a tie for third at the Bank of Hope LPGA Match-Play
  • She has not missed a cut all year and has finished inside the top-50 in all but one event this season
  • In May earlier this season, Grant grabbed her fifth Ladies European Tour win at the Jabra Ladies Open
• This is Grant’s second season as an LPGA Tour Member
  • Since 2018, she has made 14 starts and made the cut in 12 of those
    • Her only missed cut as a Member came at the 2022 Trust Golf Women’s Scottish Open
    • She has five career top-10 finishes
      • Her best stroke-play result is a T3 finish at the 2022 TOTO Japan Classic

WITH A WIN

Linn Grant

• She would become the Tour’s sixth Rolex First-Time Winner this season, following Lilia Vu (Honda LPGA Thailand), Ruoning Yin (DIO Implant LA Open), Grace Kim (LOTTE Championship), Rose Zhang (Mizuho Americas Open) and Allisen Corpuz (U.S. Women’s Open)
• She would earn her first win in her 15th career Tour start
• She would earn her first career win on American soil
  • She currently has five Ladies European Tour wins
• She would earn her first top-10 finish in stroke play this season and her second overall
  • Her only top-10 finish of the 2023 season came at the Bank of Hope LPGA Match-Play event earlier this year
  • She would additionally earn her sixth career top-10 finish
• She would be the first player from Sweden to win on Tour since Maja Stark at the ISPS Handa World Invitational in 2022
  • She would also be the 14th different Swede to ever win on Tour
• She would be the 13th different player to win on Tour this year and the first player from Sweden
• She would be the second player to win on both the LPGA Tour and LET this season
  • Grant won the Jabra Ladies Open earlier this year in May
  • Ashleigh Buhai won the Investec South African Women’s Open and the ShopRite LPGA Classic presented by Acer this season

Maria Fassi

• She would become the Tour’s sixth Rolex First-Time Winner this season, following Lilia Vu (Honda LPGA Thailand), Ruoning Yin (DIO Implant LA Open), Grace Kim (LOTTE Championship), Rose Zhang (Mizuho Americas Open) and Allisen Corpuz (U.S. Women’s Open)
• She would earn her first victory in her 85th career start
• She would record her first top-10 finish of her career and her sixth overall
  • Her lowest finish came at the Honda LPGA Thailand event earlier this year, T15
• She would be the first player from Mexico to win since Gaby Lopez won the same event in 2022
• She would be the 13th different player to win on Tour this year and the first player from Mexico
• She would earn $1,138,939 in official earnings this over her career, crossing the $1 million threshold ($262,500 winner’s check)

Matilda Castren

• She would earn her second career victory and her first since the LPGA MEDIHEAL Championship in 2021
  • In her win at the LPGA MEDIHEAL Championship, Castren became the first player from Finland to win on Tour
• She would record her first top-10 finish of the 2023 season and the eighth of her career
• She would earn her first victory at the Dana Open in three starts
  • Her previous best finish was T15 in 2021
• She would be the 13th different player to win on Tour this year and the first player from Finland

Stephanie Kyriacou

• She would become the Tour’s sixth Rolex First-Time Winner this season, following Lilia Vu (Honda LPGA Thailand), Ruoning Yin (DIO Implant LA Open), Grace Kim (LOTTE Championship), Rose Zhang (Mizuho Americas Open) and Allisen Corpuz (U.S. Women’s Open)
• She would earn her second top-10 finish of the 2023 season and the fourth of her Tour career
  • She finished T10 at the Mizuho Americas Open in June
• Kyriacou would be the third Australian to win on Tour this season, joining Grace Kim (LOTTE Championship presented by Hoakalei) and Hannah Green (JM Eagle LA Championship presented by Plastpro)
• She would be the fourth-youngest player to win on tour this year (22 years, 8 months, 5 days)
  • Grace Kim, Rouning Yin and Rose Zhang were all younger when they won this season
• She would be the 13th different player to win on Tour this year, and the 13th different Aussie to earn at least one win on Tour

Emily Pedersen

• She would become the Tour’s sixth Rolex First-Time Winner this season, following Lilia Vu (Honda LPGA Thailand), Ruoning Yin (DIO Implant LA Open), Grace Kim (LOTTE Championship), Rose Zhang (Mizuho Americas Open) and Allisen Corpuz (U.S. Women’s Open)
• She would earn her first career victory in her 95th start
• Pedersen would win the Dana Open in her second start
  • Last year, she finished T60
• She would become just the second Danish player to earn at least one win on Tour, joining Nanna Koerstz Madsen, who won the 2022 Honda LPGA Thailand
• She would earn $386,155 in official earnings this season ($262,500 winner’s check), which is the most she’s made in one year in her Tour career
  • She earned $287,174 in 2022
• She would be the 13th different player to win on Tour this year and the first from Denmark

THINGS TO KNOW

• Stephanie Kyriacou’s 6-under 65 ties her second-lowest round recorded on Tour, and is tied for second at -12
  • She’s carded it on two other occasions, in the third round of the 2023 Mizuho Americas Open and the first round of the 2022 ShopRite LPGA Classic
  • Her 201 is a new career-best 54-hole score on Tour, besting her previous record by three shots (recorded at the 2022 CPKC Women’s Open)
• Maria Fassi shot a third-straight 67 to be tied for second at -12
  • This is the first time since the 2022 Kroger Queen City Championship at Fassi has recorded her first three rounds of an event in the 60s
  • Her 201 is one off her career-best 54-hole record
• Matilda Castren (66-68-67), Emily Pedersen (65-69-67) and last week’s champion Allisen Corpuz (67-66-68) are also T2 at -12
  • Corpuz has now ended eight straight rounds under par
• Major champion Minjee Lee and LPGA Tour winner Annie Park are tied for seventh at -11 overall
  • A comeback victory on Sunday would make Lee the third-winningest Australian in Tour history behind Karrie Webb (41) and Jan Stephenson (16), and would make it three consecutive seasons with at least on win on Tour
    • She would also surpass $13 million in career earnings with the $262,500 winner’s check ($13,157,026), and would become the 11^th player in Tour history to make over $13 million in her career
    • Lee has three come-from-behind wins on Tour; in one of them, the 2021 Amundi Evian Championship, she was seven shots behind the leader entering Sunday
      • She is currently six shots back of leader Grant entering the final round of the Dana Open
  • A win for Park would be her first since the 2018 ShopRite LPGA Classic
    • She has never finished inside the top-15 at the Dana Open in six previous starts
• Five players sit in a tie for ninth at -10, including defending champion Gaby Lopez
  • The last person to successfully defend her LPGA Tour title was Jin Young Ko at the HSBC Women’s World Championship (2022, 2023)

QUOTABLE

Stephanie Kyriacou (T2, -12) on what she capitalized on at Highland Meadows on Saturday:

“I think my putting has been pretty good. I actually changed putters for the first time in like 12 years, so it was either going to be really good or really bad. So I’m glad it was really good. But, yeah, I holed some nice putts, I’ve given myself some opportunities as well, which has been good but really converted them.”

Maria Fassi (T2, -12), on the mentality heading into the final day at Highland Meadows:

I think we’ve been very smart in our game plan. There’s I think a lot of holes out here that kind of want to get you to do something a little bit aggressive and then if you’re not quite on the perfect spot you can find a bogey pretty easy. So I think that that just says a lot about our game plan and how disciplined we stayed with said game plan. And again, just excited to go out there tomorrow, stick to my game plan, hopefully see a few more putts drop and like I said, just see what happens. I’m excited for the challenge. I love this golf course. I think, yeah, we’re ready for tomorrow.

Allisen Corpuz (T2, -12), on coming back down six shots to leader Linn Grant:

“Linn absolutely lit it up today. I’m hoping the best for her tomorrow. I mean, no one’s going to catch up if she plays the way she did today. So, no, just going out there and trying to put up another solid round before I get some rest at home next week. And, yeah, I mean, it’s just, I mean, all you can do is control what you’re doing. So yeah, just going to go out there and try and shoot a low one tomorrow.”

TOURNAMENT SCORING RECORDS:

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

36 holes: 125, Paula Creamer (2008)

54 holes: 194, Nasa Hataoka (2021)

72 holes: 261, Se Ri Pak (1998)

COURTESY LPGA TOUR COMMUNICATIONS