2016 Rio Olympics: UTEP alum Gerina Piller tied for second heading into final round

Former UTEP golfer Gerina Piller is tied for second place through three rounds at the Games of the XXXI Olympiad on Friday in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

Piller shot a three-under-par 68 in the third round for total of 204 (69-67-68). She is two strokes back of individual leader Inbee Park of South Korea (66-66-70-202).

New Zealand’s Lydia Ko and China’s Shanshan Feng are also in the thick of the hunt for a gold medal. Ko is tied for second place (69-70-65-204) and Feng is in fourth place (70-67-68-205).

The final round will be played on Saturday. The round starts at 4 a.m El Paso time and will be televised live on the Golf Channel.

A native of Roswell, N.M., Piller played for the Miners from 2003-07. She put together a banner senior year, winning the Conference USA championship. She was named the C-USA Player of the Year and first team All-League.

Piller led Conference USA in scoring average that year (72.8) with four tournament titles. She began her pro career on the Futures Tour before earning full playing privileges on the LPGA Tour for 2011.