OREGON — Clariss Guce hacked out a 68 entering the final round Sunday in a hope to improve her current T13 standing in the Wildhorse Ladies Golf Classic.
The 33-year-old Filipino tamed the course with birdies on the first, fourth, fifth, seventh and 13th only to bogey the 17th.
She is now four-under after two rounds, trailing leader China’s Xiaowen Yin by eight strokes.
After 36-holes of play, there will be a solo leader heading into the final round. With no winds to protect the course, the field went low and shook up the leaderboard on moving day.
Even with the movement, the top of the leaderboard remained the same and with Yin leading the way heading into the final round.
She was able to match her first round 66 with another 66 in her second round to get her to -12 for the tournament. Yin will carry a three-shot lead into the final round, feeling confident about her game and her ability to post another good score.
“Today was a little different without the wind,” said Yin. “It was much better than yesterday. Today my driver was a little off and I had at least two or three misses, but they ended up being okay. My putting was really good which helped me shoot six-under.”
A win tomorrow would make Yin a three-time Epson Tour champion, already collecting two wins in back-to-back fashion at the 2022 Firekeepers Casino Hotel Championship and French Lick Charity Classic.
Yin will draw on her past experiences from winning on the Epson Tour, but she also knows how important it is to stay in the moment during the final round of a tournament and just to ride the wave of play for that week.
Alana Uriell will be paired with Yin tomorrow after turning in a bogey-free card of 66 (-6) in her second round. Uriell’s round was highlighted by a hole-out eagle on No. 1 which was playing as her 10th hole of the day which jumped her into the solo second position.