San Antonio Express-News (Sunday)
Korda ahead as LPGA opener enters final round
ORLANDO, Fla. — Nelly Korda is just ahead of a stacked field going into final round of the Hilton Grand Vacations Tournament of Champions — the LPGA’s 2022 kickoff event. Four women who have won majors are among the top five players.
Korda, the world’s No. 1 and five-time winner in 2021 (including an Olympic gold medal), limited her mistakes on Saturday in challenging, chilly conditions for a 3under 69 with four birdies and a bogey, and is 13-under 203 overall. Korda, 23, won the 2021 Gainbridge LPGA on the same course, Lake Nona Golf and Country Club.
Danielle Kang, the runner-up at this tournament a year ago, and Mexico’s Gaby Lopez, the 2020 TOC champion, each went bogeyfree in matching Korda’s 69, and will begin the final round one shot back. Canada’s Brooke Henderson and Japan’s Yuka Saso matched the day’s low score of 68 and will begin Sunday two and three strokes behind Korda, respectively.
Kang, Henderson and Saso all have won major championships.
Korda is seeking her eighth career LPGA title. The more she gets in the hunt, the more poised she appears to be. On Saturday, she played alongside a former No. 1 player, Annika Sorenstam, who won 72 times on the LPGA and leads the celebrity field.
“I don’t think anyone is ever really comfortable sleeping on a lead in a sense, but I’m just going to see how I can grow from this opportunity, try to take my best golf into tomorrow, and see how it goes,” Korda said.
Kang held the lead briefly on the back nine and has made only one bogey in three rounds. A Californian who never played very well in the cold, she would rise early at home in Las Vegas in the offseason and make herself practice
when it was cold and windy. She experimented with clothing layers that wouldn’t inhibit her swing.
“There is still a lot of progress to be made,” said Kang, 29, who had a rare winless season a year ago. (This TOC field is comprises 29 winners of events in the last three LPGA seasons). “I made a couple swings out there where I just froze up. My body doesn’t react that well in the cold.”
Kang had back-to-back birdies starting at the par-3 13th. At 14, with the tee at the short par-4 pushed up to 251 yards, she drove the green and narrowly missed her eagle putt from 20 feet.
Lopez, 28, has been impressive all week. She had made only two birdies by the time she reached the tee at the 398-yard closing hole on Saturday, staying patient, and even with a good drive, still had
162 yards left directly into the wind. She hit one of her best shots of the day, a solid 5-iron to 12 feet, and buried the putt, finishing with birdie for a second consecutive day.
Jamieson maintains lead at Abu Dhabi
Scott Jamieson stayed on course for a wire-to-wire win at the Abu Dhabi Championship by making a 6-foot birdie putt at the last hole to retain his one-stroke lead at the end of the third round on Saturday.
The Scottish player, ranked No. 336 and seeking his first title since 2012, shot 4-under 68 and was on 11 under overall in the first European tour event of 2022 after breaking free of a tie for the lead with Shane Lowry and Thomas Pieters (both 67s).
Jamieson has led by one stroke after all three rounds.
“It would be massive, a gamechanger, to win a tournament of this stature,” Jamieson said of the Rolex Series event that has grown to become one of the most prestigious on tour. “There’s definitely been some great champions here, (but there’s) an awful long way to go.”
That’s because there are a few European Ryder Cup players in sight of the Scot.
Lowry was bogey-free around Yas Links as he looks to win in Abu Dhabi for the second time, after his 2019 victory that was topped later that year by winning the British Open. The strong winds this week have been reminiscent of those at British Opens and Lowry has looked at home in the conditions.
The nearest he came to dropping a shot was on No. 18 when a mix-up with his caddie saw Lowry take aim in the wrong direction, his ball nearly going into the water down the left side of the hole.
Viktor Hovland, the No. 7ranked Norwegian seeking his third title in his last four events, missed a par putt from inside 2 feet at the 18th hole to shoot 70 and drop into a share of fourth place with Shubhankar Sharma (67).
The scoring was much lower than on Friday, when gusts of up to 40 mph off the coastline of the Persian Gulf caused havoc.
Rory McIlroy made the cut on the number and shot 67 — his best score of the week by five strokes — to climb to 2 under and a tie for 28th.
Cantlay out in front at American Express
Patrick Cantlay fought through gusting wind on his back nine Friday to take a one-stroke lead into the weekend at The American Express at La Quinta, Calif.
Tied for the first-round lead with Lee Hodges after a 10-under 62 at La Quinta Country Club, Cantlay shot a 68 on PGA West’s Nicklaus Tournament Course to reach 14-under 130.
Tom Hoge was second after a 66 on PGA West’s Stadium Course.
Els, Singh and Ames tied atop Hawaii field
Ernie Els was on his way to a big lead until a double bogey slowed his momentum Friday. He wound up with a 4-under 68 and was part of a three-way tie for the lead in the PGA Tour Champions season opener at Ka’upulehu-Kona, Hawaii.
Vijay Singh had a late birdie on the par-3 17th for a 67, while Stephen Ames birdied the last hole to join Els at the top in the Mitsubishi Electric Championship at Hualalai.