GARDEN CITY, KANSAS, September 15, 2016 - Sherman Santiwiwatthanaphong (Thailand) made eight birdies in windy conditions to grab the 18-hole lead at 6-under, 66 at the Garden City Charity Classic presented by Mariah Fund on Thursday. Santiwiwatthanaphong has a one shot lead on Michelle Piyapattra (Eastvale, Calif.) and Jessica Wallace (Langley, British Columbia), who both turned in a 5-under, 67 in opposite waves.
Volvik Race for the Card money leader Madelene Sagstrom (Enkoping, Sweden) headlines a trio of players that are two back at 4-under, 68.
Santiwiwatthanaphong, 19, made back-to-back birdies on holes four and five and dropped a third birdie on her outward nine on the seventh to turn in 33. She made her lone mistake of the day on ten when she made a double. She responded with a birdie on 11 and four birdies over the final six holes.
“I putted really good today and made some long ones,” said Santiwiwatthanaphong, who needed just 25 putts on the day. “I am starting to get comfortable again with my driving and my approach shots.”
Santiwiwatthanaphong, who has nine top 10 finishes this season including a win at the Island Resort Championship, has struggled a bit of late. Her last top 10 finish came six events ago in late July.
“I feel like last week, two weeks ago and even a month ago, I just was not comfortable with my swing,” admitted Santiwiwatthanaphong, who finished T24 last week. “It has helped playing the same course this week because I’ve been able to get some extra rest.”
She even went to the Garden City Zoo on Monday with Shannon Fish, who she was paired with on
Thursday.
Santiwiwatthanaphong climbed to as high as number four on the money list in late July after a T3 finish in Battle Creek, Michigan. She is now down to number 11 and in need of some big finishes to earn an LPGA Tour card.
In 2015, Santiwiwatthanaphong won the Epson Tour Championship so she has no stranger to rising to the top towards the end of the season.
NO. 21 ON MONEY LIST JESSICA WALLACE STARTS STRONG: Jessica Wallace (Langley, British Columbia) knows the position she is in with four events left. She ranks 21st on the Volvik Race for the Card money list and is approximately $20,000 outside of the top 10. Following a first-round 67, she said she is not feeling any pressure.
“I know I’m one of the ones in striking distance, but you just got to go out and play your own game,” said Wallace, who made six birdies on the day. “It’s going to take a win to even try and catch the top 10 so there is not any win-or-go-home type pressure. I might as well just go and see what I can do and hopefully make some money.”
Wallace took advantage of calmer winds in the morning, making five of her six birdies on the front nine. She was a little bit more defensive in much windier conditions on the back nine, but made a birdie and eight pars.
“The winds were pretty calm early so to roll in a few in the morning really set me up nicely for the back,” explained Wallace. “I was really just holding on during the back nine with the winds blowing. I was a little more defensive, but still kept it going.”
Wallace, who finished T29 last week, played in the Monday pro-am in Ulysses and then took it fairly easy on Tuesday and Wednesday.
“I’ve played this course enough where the officials can move the tees as much as they want, it’s still going to be roughly the same,” said Wallace. “I practiced for 45 minutes on Tuesday and then didn’t play in the pro-am and just showed up and played today.”
Wallace finished second at the Garden City Charity Classic in 2014.
JANDEL FLEW HOME AFTER MISSING CUT AND RETURNED WEDNESDAY: Emma Jandel (Dayton, Ohio) missed the cut at the first Garden City Charity Classic. She flew home to Dayton, Ohio and then returned to Garden City yesterday. Janel posted a 3-under, 69 on Thursday.
“I felt like I knew the golf course so I went home and took it easy,” said Jandel. “I didn’t really grind it out in the wind early in the week, I just wanted to come back out here and play golf.”
Jandel actually flourished when the wind was at its peak. She made three of her four birdies on the back nine during a stretch between 13 and 16.
OF NOTE
• There are five different countries represented amongst players T7 or better.
• 26 players posted under-par rounds in windy conditions.
• Garden City Charity Classic at Buffalo Dunes winner from last week, Dana Finkelstein, carded a 1-over, 73 and is in a tie for 35th.
• Nelly Korda, number 12 on the money list, opened with a 2-under, 70 and is T12.
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