Waikato Times

Falters in third round of PGA

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Lydia Ko won’t need telling where it went wrong when she looks back at her disappoint­ing third round of the PGA Championsh­ip in Illinois.

Ko, who went into the day two shots off the lead at the Kemper Lakes, carded a one-over 73 to drop to three-under par, eight shots behind South Korean leader So Yeon Ryu heading into today’s final round.

The 21-year-old Kiwi found just seven of 18 greens in regulation, battling for any sort of consistenc­y with her irons the day after she fired a scorching six under 66.

She turned in 35, mixing two birdies with a bogey on the front line, and was just three shots off the pace after she birdied the par-five 11th.

But things took a turn for the worse the following hole, an ugly double-bogey on the par-four 12th, before she bogeyed the 16th.

It leaves Ko tied for 10th, and needing a miracle if she’s to challenge for her third major title.

Speaking of third major championsh­ips, Ryu will take a two-stroke lead into the final round after clearing away from joint overnight leader Brooke Henderson with a sublime back nine.

Ryu, who won the second of her majors when she claimed the ANA Inspiratio­n tournament last year, improved to 11-under after her fiveunder 67, which included four birdies on the way in.

She mixed a combinatio­n of excellent approach shots and well-judged putts as she made her charge, hitting the front on her own after playing partner Henderson bogeyed the 14th.

Henderson, who won the PGA Championsh­ip in 2016, had been in control up until then, but further faltered after bogeying the 16th, the first hole of ‘‘The Gauntlet’’.

Ryu got hot after completing a quality up-and-down on the par five 11th, hitting out of the bunker, before holing a lengthy birdie putt.

In contrast to Ko, Ryu found 14 of 18 greens in regulation.

Fellow countrywom­an Sung Hyun Park, who is nicknamed ‘‘Tiger’’, is one shot behind Henderson and also right in the thick of the action.

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