Korda’s 63 equals PGA Championship record, gives her lead
Nelly Korda realized there were low scores available Friday at Atlanta Athletic Club. For the longest time, she couldn’t find them in the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship.
And then the birdies came in bushels, one after another, six straight to close her second round that put her in the record book with a 9-under 63 and gave her a one-shot lead over Lizette Salas going into the weekend.
“Golf is easy when you have days like this,” Korda said. “But it’s not always like this.”
It sure seems that way of late. Korda shot 62 in the third round last week on her way to winning the Meijer LPGA Classic, making the 22-yearold American the first multiple winner on the LPGA Tour this year.
She was at 11-under 133, one shot ahead of Salas, who shot another 67.
Korda tied the championship record, last set a year ago when Sei Young Kim closed with a 63 to win at Aronimink. She had the third round of 63 at Atlanta Athletic Club in a major, joining Steve Stricker in 2011 and Mark O’Meara in 2001 at the PGA Championship.
Celine Boutier of France drove the sixth green to 8 feet for an eagle on her way to a 64 that left her four shots back at 7-under 137 with Cydney Clanton (67), Inbee Park (68) and Alena Sharp (68).
WATSON OVERCOMES SNAPPED DRIVER AT TRAVELERS >> Bubba Watson recovered after snapping his driver to make birdie at No. 2 on his way to a second straight 66 that left him at 8 under, one stroke behind 36-hole leader Jason Day in the Travelers Championship in Cromwell, Conn.
Day shot 62 for the day’s low score and a chance at his first top-three finish in more than three years.
First-round co-leader Kramer Hickok finished with a 69 to tie Watson for second.
Justin Rose and Kevin Kisner each shot 63 and were among seven player tied for fourth at minus-7. Satoshi Kodaira, who was 7 under after the first round, shot a 2-over 72 in the second. STRICKER OPENS 5-SHOT LEAD IN SENIOR PLAYERS >> Steve Stricker increased his lead to five strokes in the Senior Players Championship, following an opening 7-under 63 with a 68 at breezy Firestone in Akron, Ohio.
The 54-year-old U.S. Ryder Cup captain had a 9-under 131 total on the difficult South Course, playing bogeyfree for the first two rounds.
Paul Broadhurst was second at 4 under after a 69. Marco Dawson (69) and Ken Duke (71) were 2 under.
Olympics NO SPECTATORS STILL POSSIBLE FOR TOKYO GAMES >>
A “no-spectator games” remains an option for the Tokyo Olympics, which open officially in just four weeks, the president of
the Tokyo Olympic organizing committee said.
The admission by Seiko Hashimoto comes only four days after she announced on Monday that up to 10,000 local fans would be allowed into venues.
College baseball
VANDY WINS AT CWS AS VIRUS DEPLETES N.C. STATE ROSTER >> Kumar Rocker struck out 11 in six innings and Vanderbilt won 3-1 at the College World Series against a North Carolina State team without half its roster because of COVID-19 issues.
The Commodores (48-16) forced a second Bracket 1 final today, with the winner going to the best-of-three finals starting Monday.
The Friday game was delayed an hour after the NCAA said it needed time to complete “health and safety protocols.” N.C. State (37-19) had 14 of its 27 players on its travel roster enter COVID-19 protocol and miss the game.
Gymnastics
BILES DAZZLES HER WAY TO GYMNASTICS LEAD >> World and Olympic champion Simone Biles put on a dazzling display during the U.S. Olympic Trials on her way to a commanding lead and a spot in Japan next month.
Her all-around total of 60.565 included a 15.133 on beam that featured the “double-double” dismount named for her, a maneuver she’s kept under wraps since the 2019 world championships.
The top two all-around finishers Sunday night after the finals automatically qualify for the Olympic team. Biles is a lock no matter what happens Sunday.
Sunisa Lee (57.666) and Jordan Chiles (57.132) are second and third, respectively heading into the finals.
Tennis DJOKOVIC, FEDERER COULD MEET IN WIMBLEDON FINAL; HALEP OUT >>
Defending champion Novak Djokovic and eight-time titlist Roger Federer were placed on opposite halves of the Wimbledon bracket draw, meaning they only could meet in the final — which would be a rematch of their epic 2019 title showdown.
The reigning women’s champion, No. 3-ranked Simona Halep (torn
left calf), pulled out of the field just before the draw began. That means two of the top three players in the WTA rankings are missing from the field; No. 2 Naomi Osaka withdrew last week.
SONEGO-DE MINAUR, OSTAPENKOKONTAVEIT IN EASTBOURNE FINALS >> Alex de Minaur and Lorenzo Sonego will meet for the title at the Eastbourne grass-court tournament after ending the runs of lucky losers Kwon Soon-woo and Max Purcell in the semifinals.
The No. 2-seeded de Minaur beat Kwon 6-3, 7-6 (2). Sonego defeated Purcell 6-1, 3-6, 6-1.
In the women’s final, 2017 French Open champion Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia will face Anett Kontaveit of Estonia.
Ostapenko reached her first WTA title match in nearly two years by beating Elena Rybakina 6-4, 6-1. Kontaveit advanced when 75th-ranked qualifier Camila Giorgi stopped playing because of an injured left thigh.
KERBER BEATS KVITOVA TO REACH BAD HOMBURG OPEN FINAL >> Angelique Kerber upset top-seeded Petra Kvitova as she won two three-set matches in a day to reach the final of the Bad Homburg Open.
Kerber will bid to win her first title since Wimbledon in 2018 after she beat Kvitova 3-6, 6-4, 7-6 (3).
Kerber will face another Czech player, Katerina Siniakova, in the final after Siniakova beat Sara Sorribes Tormo 6-2, 6-4.
Cycling
POGACAR, ROGLIC FAVORITES AS TOUR DE FRANCE BEGINS >> Tadej Pogacar and Primoz Roglic are the clear favorites for this year’s Tour de France, but an aggressive and star-studded Ineos-Grenadiers team may hold the key to the race, which sets out from the port city of Brest today.
Pogacar blew Roglic away in the final time trial to win the race last year, and the 22-year-old has also triumphed in the Tirreno-Adriatico and Tour of Slovenia stage races in the lead-up to the Tour with dominant rides in the mountains.
Roglic, meanwhile, beat his young compatriot at the Tour of the Basque
country in their only head-to-head duel in a stage race this season.
Motorsports
‘IRON MAN’ RACER, NASCAR CHAMPION INGRAM DIES AT 84 >> Jack Ingram, a hard-hosed, hot-tempered racer who won five NASCAR championships and more than 300 races, has died, the NASCAR Hall of Fame said. He was 84.