Fourth-year player Jessica Wallace (Langley, British Columbia) carded a 5-under 67 to move into a share of the lead 36-hole lead with first-round leader Madelene Sagstrom (Enkoping, Sweden), who followed her course record 8-under 64 with a even-par 72 on Saturday. Wallace and Sagstrom are dead even at 8-under 136 with one round to play.

Kendall Dye (Edmond, Okla.) and Therese O’Hara (Copenhagen, Denmark), who both played on the LPGA Tour in 2015, are tied for third at 6-under 138. There are eight players within four shots of the leaders.

Final round play will begin at 7:15 a.m. on Sunday. The winner’s paycheck of $15,000 will be handed out on the 18th green following completion of play. The winner will move to the top of the first Volvik Race for the Card money list of the 2016 season.

Wallace, who carded a 69 on day one, made birdie on the first hole and cruised on the front nine with four birdies and no bogeys to get to 7-under. After a few hiccups in the middle of her back nine, she closed with a birdie on 16 and a great approach shot into 18 that led to a birdie to equal Sagstrom at the top.

“I feel really good about my game right now, I think I hit every fairway and I hit almost every green,” said Wallace. “I’ve been making it easy on myself, which definitely helps on this kind of course. I was hitting it close today, I don’t think I had a birdie putt over five feet. I was feeling it.”

Wallace had a strong season on the Epson Tour in 2015, finishing 26th on the Volvik Race for the Card money list.

“When you have a good year, you feel like you can build off that,” said Wallace. “When you have success, you want to feel like you can achieve even more.”

Wallace has four career top 10 finishes on the Epson Tour, but no wins.

“Obviously the goal this year is to win one and it might as well be the first one,” said Wallace with a wide smile. “I just want to keep the same game plan going and see what happens tomorrow.”

Wallace is anticipating low scores tomorrow with calm conditions.

“I expect low scores tomorrow especially with the weather and compared to last year when you just tried to grind out any kind of number,” explained Wallace. “I think this year you are going to have to put the pedal to the metal a bit more. I want to make some birdies early so I can put some pressure on the field or just build on my number.”

Sagstrom started strong with birdies on holes one and three to move to 10-under. She made two mid-round bogeys to drop down to 8-under. After a birdie on 14, she made her first double-bogey of the tournament on 15. She got one back with a birdie on 16 and two pars to close.

“I made a few bad decisions and got a little defensive in the middle of the round on the greens,” said Sagstrom. “I played basically as good as yesterday, but I just hit them closer yesterday.”

In her second career professional start, Sagstrom will go for her first win.

“I’m here to learn and figure everything out since it is my first Epson Tour event, but I’m happy that I gave myself a chance to be up there and see what it is like,” said the 2015 SEC Player of the Year at LSU Sagstrom. “It doesn’t really matter to me if I win or not, if I got out and give it my all I’ll be happy. I’m going to go out there and give full commitment to every shot and see what happens.”

There are several players with Southern California connections in the mix. Michelle Piyapattra of Eastvale is T5, Emily Tubert of Burbank if T8 and recent UCLA All-American Erynne Lee is also T8.

Wallace, Sagstrom Share 36-Hole Lead at IOA Championship

Related Articles