Davies' long putt solidifies 5-shot lead at Senior Women's Open
The laughs from the gallery could be heard from adjacent holes on the links-style golf course.
Moments later, the cheers were even louder. Did you hear the roar, Warrenville?
When Laura Davies drained a longer-than-long putt for an eagle 3 on one of Chicago Golf Club's massive greens, she smiled wide and acknowledged cheering fans surrounding the 12th green by waving.
And the 54-year-old from Coventry, England kept smiling.
At 11-under par after three days, Davies takes a 5-shot lead into Sunday's final round of the inaugural U.S. Senior Women's Open in Wheaton after firing a 7-under 66. Juli Inkster, who sank a 20-footer for eagle on the 18th to cap a 5-under round, sits alone in second at 6 under. Trish Johnson (4 under) and Danielle Ammaccapane (2 under) are the only other players in red numbers.
Co-leaders after two rounds at 4 under, Davies and Johnson played with Inkster. The three women will do so again on Sunday, teeing off hole No. 1 at 9:09 a.m.
Davies joked that her 5-stroke cushion guaranteed herself a sleepless night.
"I'm not saying I'd rather be tied for the lead, but you sleep better when you're tied for the lead," Davies said. "I know a big lead like that seems a lot, but it really isn't in golf, is it? We all know that."
Davies, who missed the cut at the KPMG Women's PGA Championship at Kemper Lakes in Kildeer a couple of weeks ago, hasn't won since 2010, and that was on the Ladies European Tour.
She remains a fan favorite, regardless, and that was evident on the 12th hole on Saturday.
After Davies hit what she called "probably the best 3 iron I've ever hit in my life" from 207 yards out to reach the par 5 in two, she was left with a putt from 77 feet away.
She looked at the crowd and playfully asked for advice.
"I just said, 'Has anyone got a clue what this is going to do?' " Davies said.
The fans erupted with laughter.
"Luckily, no one said, 'Left, right, left' because then I would have been in trouble," Davies said. "I was just having a bit of a joke with them. That was why they were laughing."
Davies' eagle was the only one the 12th yielded all day and moved her to 5 under on her round and 9 under for the tournament. Despite birdieing the hole, Inkster was still 6 shots back, same as Johnson. Inkster picked up another shot with a birdie on the par-4 14th, and her closing eagle gave her a 5-under 32 on the back nine. But Davies added birdies on Nos. 15 and 18 (tap-in).
"Laura is going to be tough (to beat)," Inkster said. "She hits a few wild ones, but she seems to recover. Her iron game is really on point, and she made a ton of putts today. She putted beautiful. If she plays like she did today, no one is going to catch her. But that's why we play. We'll just see what happens."
Davies missed a 6-footer for birdie on the first hole, but she reached the par-5 second in two and birdied the hole. Johnson bogeyed it after hitting her tee shot into the fescue grass, and the 52-year-old from Bristol, England never caught Davies after that.
The long-hitting Davies, for the most part, hit 2 iron off the tee on the par 4s on an overcast day that featured a morning drizzle. She hit driver on all five par 5s.
Her only bogey was on the par-5 fourth.
"The game plan is basically for us to try and hit as many fairways as we can because the course isn't long (6,088 yards)," Davies said. "If you've got mid irons to short irons, if you're in the fairway, you've got a real chance of making birdies."
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