Kim leads KPMG Championship by two strokes
Sei Young Kim had another excellent outing at KPMG Women’s PGA Championship, shooting a 3-under 67 to hold the lead after three rounds Saturday at Aronimink in Newtown Square, Pennsylvania.
The South Korean sits at 7-under 203, two strokes ahead of Brooke Henderson and Anna Nordqvist as she tries for her first career major championship. A 10-time LPGA Tour winner, Kim was runner-up at the 2015 KPMG Women’s PGA Championship and tied for second at the Evian Championship in 2018.
The last four winners of the tournament either led or co-led after 36 holes, and Kim played like a golfer poised to make it five.
Henderson, who won the 2016 Women’s PGA Championship, tied her career-best 18-hole score at a major championship with a 65 to stay within striking distance. Henderson had five birdies for a bogeyfree round.
“Sometimes it’s hard to believe that I’m a major champion,’’ Henderson said. “But definitely in times like this it gives me a little bit of confidence, and I’m excited to try to do it again tomorrow.’’
Nordqvist shot a 68 as she tries to win her third major championship. Inbee Park is three strokes behind the leader and Bianca Pagdanganan shot a 65 for the second straight day to rally her way into fifth at 3 under. Pagdanganan hasn’t had a bogey since the first round. Park is a three-time winner of the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship and would tie Mickey Wright for the most in a career with a win.
“I’d be lying if I said I don’t think about it, but it’s just too crazy to think something big like that, in the history of golf, history of this championship, is going to maybe have a slim chance of happening to me,’’ Park said.
Klara Spilkova wasn’t around for the weekend, missing the cut by 1 shot after a rare 2-stroke penalty was assessed for slow play. While players are put on the clock often in professional golf with the threat of a penalty if they don’t pick up the pace it’s not often they actually get docked strokes.
But it happened to Spilkova as she walked off the 15th hole Friday that helped turn her round into a 3-over 73 for a two-day score of 7 over, putting her 11 shots behind Kim and 1 shot outside the cut. The top 75 players advanced to the weekend in the LPGA’s third major of the year.
Players on the LPGA have been outspoken about slow play, most notable Stacy Lewis, who went on Twitter to complain about the pace earlier this year at the Ladies Scottish Open.
When asked about her position the next day, Lewis said she wanted to see more done.
“I would like to see it be penalties instead of fines,” Lewis said then. “I think we need to be aggressive.”
It has been a tough year for Spilkova, who has now missed the cut in seven of 11 events. She also withdrew from one event, last month’s ANA Inspiration.
American Nelly Korda, currently ranked No. 2 in the world, withdrew from the tournament on Friday due to a back injury.
BMW PGA CHAMPIONSHIP
After almost nine months in America, English golfer Tyrrell Hatton is on target for a happy homecoming in the BMW PGA Championship — the tournament which inspired him to become a professional.
Hatton will take a threeshot lead over Denmark’s JB Hansen and France’s Victor Perez into the final round at Wentworth in Virginia Water, England. British Open champion Shane Lowry, Tommy Fleetwood, Patrick Reed and David Horsey are all four strokes back on Saturday.
Hatton grew up not far from Wentworth and often came to one of the European Tour’s flagship events as a spectator, while he went into the final round in 2016 a shot off the lead before finishing seventh.
“It’s been a goal of mine to hopefully win this tournament so it would be very special,” Hatton said after his 3-under-par 69 in the third round to go 14 under overall. “I just have to try to not get too far ahead of myself, take confidence from the fact I’ve won on Tour, go out there and control myself, play well like I have the last three days and see what happens.”
Hatton began the day a shot off the lead and fell further behind with a bogey on the third, but bounced back to birdie the next and jumped into the lead with an eagle from 20 feet on the 12th.
He also birdied the 13th and recovered from a bogey on the 15th with a closing birdie to put himself in pole position for a fifth European Tour title and second victory of the season following the Arnold Palmer Invitational in March.
Fleetwood, who lost to Aaron Rai in a playoff at the Scottish Open last Sunday, was 4 over par after seven holes on Thursday, but lifted himself into contention with a third round of 67 which included six birdies and a vital par on the 18th after hitting his second shot into the water surrounding the green. Horsey also posted a 67 thanks to five birdies on the back nine as he seeks a fifth European Tour title and first since 2015.