Nelly Korda takes a two-shot lead over Hannah Green into the final round at Liberty National; Ayaka Furue and Gabriela Ruffels are three back in tied-third; Korda won five consecutive LPGA Tour events before finishing tied-seventh in her last start
Sunday 19 May 2024 01:49, UK
World No 1 Nelly Korda is closing in on a sixth LPGA Tour victory in seven starts after taking a two-shot lead into the final round of the Mizuho Americas Open in New Jersey.
Korda carded a seven-under 65 to move to 13 under and two ahead of Australia's Hannah Green, who set a tournament record with a brilliant nine-under 63 at Liberty National Golf Club.
After seeing Rose Zhang snap her tour record-tying five-tournament winning streak in the Cognizant Founders Cup last week, Korda posted seven birdies in a bogey-free round to bolster her hopes of returning to winning ways.
Korda posted three birdies in a front-nine 33 and added another at the par-five 10th, then posted three more in a four-hole stretch from the 13th to jump top of the leaderboard.
"Really solid day of golf off the tee, into the greens, and putting, too," Korda said. "Took my chances where I could."
Green, whose two wins make her the only other multiple winner on tour this year, took advantage of the calm and dry morning conditions to card six birdies in eight holes late in her round and ensure a Sunday pairing with Korda.
"Yeah, felt very easy," Green said. "I guess I hit 17 greens and missed a few fairways, but actually hit it really close, so it was really nice to actually not have to stress about trying to make pars today. But it did feel like autopilot for a little bit there, which is very nice. So, yeah, now I put myself hopefully in contention for Sunday."
Korda won five straight tournaments earlier this season to tie the record shared by Hall of Famers Nancy Lopez (1978) and Annika Sorenstam (2004-05), before finishing tied-seventh in her last start.
Ayaka Furue and Gabriela Ruffels shares third spot on 10 under ahead of Sophia Popov, Jennifer Kupcho and Pajaree Anannarukarn, while England's Charley Hull dropped out of contention after a three-over 75 dropped her to tied-51st.
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