Korda in tie at top in battle for No. 1
American even with Ko as the two battle for LPGA’s Player of the Year honor
Nelly Korda was watching from the tee box on the par-3 fifth hole as Jin Young Ko rolled in a birdie putt from 10 feet, the fourth of seventh straight birdies for the South Korean star.
Moments later, Korda holed a 45foot chip for birdie.
It was like that all day at the CME Group Tour Championship. It’s been like that all year.
Now their race to be No. 1 on the LPGA Tour goes all the way to the final round of the season.
Ko rode her stretch of seven straight birdies to a 6-under 66. Korda answered by overpowering the par 5s on the back nine at Tiburon for a 67. They were part of a four-way tie for the lead Saturday going into the final round, with nothing less than $1.5 million and LPGA Player of the Year on the line.
None of that seems to faze Korda, a 23-year-old American with an elegant swing who is ruthless when it comes to competing.
“It’s for other people,” Korda said of how the stage is set for the LPGA finale. “I’m just out there to do my
job, taking a shot at a time, and see where it takes me. That’s all you can do.”
They were tied with Celine Boutier of France, who started with a fourshot lead and wasn’t hurt by her 72, and Nasa Hataoka of Japan who had the low round of a windblown Saturday at 64.
They were at 14-under 202, setting up a final day bursting with possibilities.
Gaby Lopez of Mexico was poised to join them until a wild finish. She hit into a hazard off the tee at the par-3 16th and took double bogey. She responded with a long eagle putt on the par-5 17th. And then her approach on the 18th went left and found water down a slope so severe she could barely find a spot to place the ball without it rolling away into the hazard.
Lopez did well to escape with bogey for a 69 and was one shot behind along with Mina Harigae, who made eagle on the 17th and shot 69.
PGA: Talor Gooch is playing some of his best golf in the toughest weather, even when he hasn’t been in the best position off the tee. Now the former Oklahoma State player is one round away from his Tour victory at the RSM Classic. Gooch hit only six fairways Saturday at Sea Island and still managed a 3-under 67, stretching his lead to three shots going into the final round. He was at 16-under 196, three shots clear of Seamus Power of Ireland (67) and Sebastian Munoz of Colombia (69). Both have won on the PGA Tour. Power won the Barbasol Championship this summer the same week as the British Open, so it didn’t not come with an invitation to the Masters. A victory Sunday will. Tom Hoge, also in search of his first win, had a 67 and was alone in fourth, while Luke List (66), former RSM Classic winner Mackenzie Hughes of Canada (70) and Scott Stallings (69) were another shot behind. European: Rory McIlroy was on the rocks late in his third round at the DP World Tour Championship. Some cliff-edge improvisation, followed by a final-hole birdie, put him back in control. Seeking a second straight victory to end his season, McIlroy delivered another wild finish at Jumeirah Golf Estates in shooting a 5-under 67 that left the four-time major champion with a one-stroke lead. Sam Horsfield bogeyed the 18th hole to shoot 69 and drop out of a share of the lead with McIlroy.