Korda within two shots of Kang
LAKE BUENA VISTA — Danielle Kang played great, tying her career low with an 8-under 63 and protecting her lead Saturday in the Diamond Resorts Tournament of Champions.
Jessica Korda owned the day.
A sizzling 28 on the back nine — 9-under par — at Four Seasons Golf and Sports Club Orlando lifted Korda to an 11-under 60, just one shot off the LPGA Tour scoring mark.
Kang was at 21-under 192 through three bogey-free rounds. Her total tied an LPGA mark for raw score through 54 holes (shared by three others) and shattered the tournament’s 54-hole record (200). She will take a two-shot lead over Korda into Sunday in what sets up as a terrific shootout for the LPGA’s season opener:
Kang leads Jessica Korda by two and Nelly Korda (67) by six. South Korea’s In Gee Chun (67) sits fourth, eight shots back.
Jessica Korda, 27, is the older of the LPGA’s uber-talented sisters — younger sister Nelly, 22, is No. 4 in the women’s world ranking, just ahead of Kang. She followed a ho-hum start with birdies on six of her first seven holes on the second nine. She then finished with a huge kick, making an eagle on the 537-yard 17th hole, which she reached in two with a 4-iron, pouring in an 18-foot right-to-left putt.
Korda added a ninth birdie at the challenging water-guarded par-3 18th, where she struck a soft 6-iron to 9 feet.
The slick downhill putt tumbled in on its last turn, giving Korda the tour’s first 60 since Paula Creamer in the 2008 Jamie Farr Owens Corning Classic. Korda became the fifth LPGA player to ever shoot that number.
The back-nine birdies and eagles were arriving at such a pace that neither Korda nor those playing alongside could keep up with the dizzying math. Korda’s round was just one shot off the record of 59 by Annika Sorenstam nearly 20 years ago in Phoenix. Sorenstam is at Diamond Resorts this week competing in the 53-player celebrity division.
“I didn’t process what exactly was happening until I made that putt on 17,” Korda said.