Cheyenne Knight and Elizabeth Szokol broke a tournament record for alternate-shot play to grab a three-shot lead after three rounds of the Dow Great Lakes Bay Invitational on Friday in Midland, Mich.
Knight and Szokol teamed up to shoot an 8-under 62, the lowest round of alternate shot the event has seen in its four years of existence. That put them at 18-under 192, also a tournament record for 54 holes, with Finland’s Matilda Castren and Malaysia’s Kelly Tan in second at 15 under.
The 72-hole event features two-player teams. Alternate shot is used during the first and third rounds, while the second and final rounds are played using a four-ball format.
Knight sank a 25-foot birdie putt at the par-3 18th hole at Midland Country Club in order to set the record. The team birdied six of the final eight holes.
“I obviously didn’t know how low we were going,” Knight said. “We were just making a lot of birdies, which you don’t expect in alternate shot, but it was super fun.”
Knight, 26, has one win on the LPGA Tour, the Volunteers of America Classic in October 2019. Szokol, 29, has yet to win her first title and hasn’t finished better than 56th since March, when she tied for eighth at the HSBC Women’s World Championship.
“We’re really good friends, so I think we’re very comfortable playing together,” Szokol said of Knight. “We know each other really well, and I have so much trust in Cheyenne’s game, and that makes it so much easier for alternate shot.”
Castren and Tan remained steady by shooting a 68 on Friday. They finished runners-up at this event in 2022 and led after the first round earlier this week.
“I think this is one event on the calendar year that I look forward to, and I think we both look forward to together,” Tan said. “It’s just such a fun atmosphere, I feel like, compared to a normal event.”
Norway’s Celine Borge and Germany’s Polly Mack shot a 68 Friday to move to 13 under, tied for third with Jodi Ewart Shadoff of England and Emma Talley (70). Stacy Lewis and Mexico’s Maria Fassi (66) are tied for fifth at 12 under with France’s Celine Boutier and Japan’s Yuka Saso (70).
Paula Reto of South Africa and Amelia Lewis led the event after Thursday’s second round, but a 3-over 73 has dropped them back to a tie for seventh at 11 under with Ana Belac of Slovenia and Binaca Pagdanganan of the Philippines (66).
–Field Level Media