Anna Rawson leads LPGA Q-School after 67

BY iseekgolf.com | LPGA Tour | 2007 LPGA Q-School (California) - Stage One | Round Three | 22 Sep 2007

Australian Anna Rawson shot a tournament-low 5-under par 67 to take a one-shot lead after the third round of the LPGA Sectional Qualifying Tournament at Mission Hills Country Club. Rawson holds a one-shot lead over Ashleigh Simon of South Africa and Yani Tseng of Taiwan.

Rawson, who has a three-day total of 71-74-67=212 (-4), made birdies on holes 4 and 9 with a bogey on hole 8 to make the turn at even-par for the tournament. On the back nine, she made birdies on holes 12, 14, 15, 17 and 18 with a bogey on hole 13 to finish at 5-under-par 67 for the day and 4-under-par 212 entering the final round.

“I felt like the ball was on a leash,” said Rawson following her round. “It was straight down the middle and straight at the pin. I felt really comfortable with my putts and they dropped today.”

This week marks Rawson’s fourth attempt at qualifying for the LPGA Tour. The native Australian played 17 events on the Duramed Futures Tour in 2005 before moving to the Ladies European Tour, where she was a fixture in 2006 and 2007. Her best career professional finish was a second place showing at the Deutsche Bank Ladies Swiss Open in May.

At the University of Southern California, Rawson finished 11th individually at the 2003 NCAA Women’s Golf championship, the same year the Trojans won the team title. In 2001 and 2002, she was named to the Pac-10 honorable mention team.

“I’m hitting the ball so much further than I ever have,” said Rawson. “These courses used to intimidate me. I’d hit 4-irons and 3-irons, but the longest club I hit today was 5-iron. My game has improved so much and it feels really good.”

Simon, a South African, fired a 1-under-par 71 on Friday to move into a tie for second place at 3-under-par (73-69-71=213) with Tseng. Simon used birdies on holes 2 and 4 and a bogey on hole 6 to make the turn at 1-under-par for the day. She shot even-par on the back nine with a birdie on hole 10 and a bogey on hole 13 to finish at 3-under-par heading into the final round.

“I played really solid today and struck it nicely,” said Simon. “I could have sunk a lot more putts though. I’m coming in here to try to get a top-30 spot. I’m not going out tomorrow to try to shoot lights out. I’ll just try to play level golf. It doesn’t matter where you finish, as long as you get to Daytona.”

Simon, who turned professional in May of 2007, has played in 19 tournaments on the Ladies European Tour since 2006. Her first career victory came in Spain at the Catalonia Ladies Masters this June. Simon also played two events on the LPGA Tour in 2007, including a sponsor exemption at the HSBC Women’s World Match Play Championship.

Tseng began the day at 4-under-par and made the turn at 5-under-par for the tournament after a birdie on hole 2. She struggled on the back nine with bogies on holes 11, 13 and 15 and a birdie on hole 16 to finish at 3-under-par (72-68-73=213).

“My putting was very good, but I was confused by the wind,” said Tseng. “Tomorrow I will just relax because number one or number thirty, you still make it.”

A native of Taiwan who recently bought a home in Southern California, Tseng made her second appearance on the LPGA Tour at the 2007 CN Canadian Women’s Open where she finished tied for sixth.

The final round, which will feature the low 70 players and ties, will be played on the Dinah Shore course at Mission Hills Country Club. The top-30 players and ties at the end of 72 holes will advance to the LPGA Final Qualifying Tournament at LPGA International in Daytona Beach, Fla., Nov. 28-Dec. 2.

The Rancho Mirage qualifier is the first of the LPGA Tour’s two sectional qualifying events in 2007. The second LPGA Tour Sectional Qualifying Tournament is Oct. 2-5 at Plantation Golf and Country Club in Venice, Fla. The top-30 finishers and ties from the Florida qualifier will join the California sectional qualifiers, current LPGA Tour members attempting to improve their status and the players who finished sixth through 15th on the final 2007 Duramed Futures Tour money list at the LPGA Final Qualifying Tournament.

Source – LPGA