Ko climbs at US Open
Kiwi No 1 four shots off pace heading into final round
Lydia Ko has completed a solid if unspectacular round to remain in contention with one round to play at the US Open.
Ko started her third round sitting 14th at one-under par and posted a steady 72 in testing conditions at the Champions Golf Club’s Cypress Creek Course yesterday.
On a day where few of her rivals posted scores at or under par, Ko’s one-over round was enough to lift her to a share of fifth.
Ko posted just one birdie, along with two bogies, among 15 par holes in the round but it was enough to move her within four shots of leader Hinako Shibuno of Japan.
Shibuno, who won last year’s British Open and bids to become the first player since Se Ri Pak in 1998 to win majors for her first two LPGA Tour victories, shot a threeover 74 to hold a one-shot lead over American Amy Olson.
Thailand’s Moriya Jutanugarn and South Korea’s Ji Yeong Kim lie in a share of third at one-under, a shot ahead of Ko and three other players.
Ko said a different wind direction made for a tough start to the day.
“I knew the holes would play quite differently but with the first few holes all into the wind and raining from yesterday afternoon and overnight I think definitely made the course a lot softer and hence made it a lot longer . . . I was just trying to grind my way out there,” she said after her round.
“I feel like I could have shot a lower score but it could have been a lot worse, so I’ll take what I have.”
Only two players shot under the card in the third round, with Kim the only player to score in the 60s, with a four-under 67.
Ko, who last claimed a major in 2016, said she just had to stay patient heading into the final round of a major in 2020.
“Sometimes you keep going on a par train and you think ‘when is there going to be a good turnaround?’
“Around a course like this and especially at majors, pars are sometimes not a bad score.”