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Sharp said the infraction happened after her ball had stopped
in short grass, hard up against a collar of rough next to the
third green at Whistle Bear.
"When I addressed my chip shot the ball moved,” she told
reporters. "I don't think I completely grounded my club, but the
way the rule reads, I was going to ground my club and the ball
moved.
"I needed to call it on myself because I was going to be
thinking about it all day. Two dimples, but it moved. I'm
totally all about the rules and etiquette and I just would never
not call it on myself when the ball moves like that.”
After summoning a rules official to confirm the one-shot
penalty, Sharp duffed her chip and made a double bogey but she
put the incident behind her to birdie the next hole en route to
a six-under 66.
Sharp, who is still seeking her first LPGA victory, ended the
day tied with American Lexi Thompson and South Korean Kim
Hyo-joo at 12-under 132, one stroke clear of three others on a
crowded leaderboard.
The long-hitting Thompson made seven birdies, including four in
a row from her second hole, on her way to a flawless 65, while
Kim also had seven birdies in a 67.
(Reporting by Andrew Both in Cary, North Carolina, editing by
Nick Mulvenney)
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