A downhill eagle rolling left to right on to finish the day launched Fatima Fernandez Cano (Paris, France) into a share of the lead on Saturday. Fernandez Cano finished with a 6-under par 66 to move into 6-under overall. She will be in the final pairings on Sunday at TPC River’s Bend.
“I hit it a little bit left of my line on 18 and I had a downhill lie with a 3-wood. It was about 215 yards to the flag. I aimed to the left side of the green thinking it would cut back into the right side of the green but it didn’t. It stayed up here on the left. It was a very long putt I don’t even know how many feet of break it had. I just read it back from the hole and picked my spot I wanted to roll over and it was going in with some heat so I am glad it hit the hole. But it hit it so that’s all that matters.”
Last season Fernandez Cano finished No. 2 in the Race for the Card after claiming four top-10 finishes, including her first win at the IOA Championship. She returned to the Epson Tour this season in aims to receive her card once again and obtain full status on the LPGA Tour. With six top-10 finishes so far this season, she finds herself at No. 3 this week as the middle of the season approaches. Fernandez Cano didn’t have her momentum last tournament as she missed her first cut at the Island Resort Championship. This week she looks to pick back up and win her first event this season.
“It’s kind of unexpected, honestly. During the practice rounds I wasn’t hitting it that great, so I was just trying to stay patient and stay with it. I just came off my first cut of the season, too and I think I was just getting ahead of myself a little bit. So my goal this week was to stay patient and stay with it and just take it one shot at the time.”
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