Nelly Korda grabs LPGA lead as Lydia Ko falters

MIAMI: Nelly Korda grabbed a one-shot lead heading into the final round of the Gainbridge LPGA on Saturday, firing five birdies in a four-under 68 at Lake Nona in Orlando, Florida.

Korda’s second straight 68 gave her a 13-under-par total of 203, one shot clear of Patty Tavatanakit, who stormed home with three straight birdies in a six-under 66.

World number one Ko Jin-young of South Korea also carded a 66 to head a group sharing third on 206, alongside American Angel Yin (65) and New Zealand’s overnight leader Lydia Ko, who posted an even par 72.

Korda, ranked fourth in the world, started the day one behind Kiwi Ko and after six straight pars picked up birdies at the seventh, ninth and 12th.

She bounced back from her lone bogey of the day at 13 with back-to-back birdies at the 15th and 16th.

“I think I just played pretty consistent all day,” Korda said. “Any time you can get ahead of the pack going into Sunday is a positive. There are some good players there, so it’ll take good golf to win.”

Thailand’s Patty was two-under for the round through nine holes but made the most of the scoring opportunities offered on the back nine with birdies at 14, 16, 17 and 18.

“I was driving the ball pretty well,” the Thai rookie said. “Hit it pretty well. Felt a little slow in the start. My body wasn’t feeling the best in the morning, but hung in there and got through it and just keep my head down, just kept playing golf.”

Top-ranked Ko also took advantage of the back nine, five of her seven birdies coming in a six-hole span from the 11th through the 16th.

Yin was buoyed by an eagle two at the 14th to go along with five back-nine birdies.

But Lydia Ko, the former world number one chasing her first LPGA title since 2018, couldn’t take advantage of the back-nine scoring chances.

She had four birdies overall, two on the back nine, but also a double-bogey six at the 12th and a bogey at the last.

“I felt like it could have been a little bit better,” the New Zealander said. “Had pretty much one bad hole, but other than that I felt like I played pretty solid.”