HOUSTON (AP) — Nelly Korda stretched her lead to eight shots Saturday until missing a series of short putts that caused her to settle for a 2-under 70 and a five-shot lead in The Chevron Championship, the largest 54-hole lead of her career.
But the work is not over. Korda looked close to unbeatable for so long with another clinic controlling her irons on the heavily sloped greens of Memorial Park. And then the gap began to shrink as her contenders
did just enough to stay in range.
“I played really solid on the front and then just kind of ... not may have lost concentration, but the wind started picking up and then I just put myself into great positions (and) didn’t kind of execute really well," Korda said.
The heat and humidity also took a toll, and Korda often walked the fairways with an umbrella to shield her from the sun.
Patty Tavatanakit, who went 48 holes without a bogey before making one on the 13th, bounced back with a pair of birdies over the last five holes for a 69 to get within five shots.
It was a remarkable scrambling performance for Tavatanakit, who won this major as a rookie in 2021. She got up-and-down seven times, missing out only on the 13th.
Ruoning Yin of China, a Women's PGA champion and former No. 1 in the world, shot 66 and was six shots behind along with Pauline Roussin-Bouchard of France, who had a 67.
“I just don’t really make mistakes and I’ve been hitting well and putting well,” Yin said. “Everything is going the right direction.”
Korda was at 16-under 200 to tie the tournament record set by Jennifer Kupcho in 2022, the last year the major was at Mission Hills in the California desert.
For seven holes, this was the best player in women's golf in full flight.
A long bunker shot to 4 feet gave her a birdie on the par-5 opening hole. She hit 8-iron to within 3 feet of a dangerous front pin on the par-3 second, hit a gap wedge to 6 feet for birdie on the fifth, and holed a 10-foot birdie putt on the next hole to reach 18 under.
And just like the previous two rounds, she smartly played away from flags that were tucked near the edge of the greens that sloped down toward trouble.
Korda didn't miss a green until a lob wedge to the par-5 eighth was slightly strong and just rolled over the green into a shaved area. She chipped that to 4 feet and missed for her first bogey.
That turned out to be the start of the doldrums. Korda had a 12-foot birdie putt on the 13th that narrowly missed, and then she missed the 4-footer coming back and made bogey. She was just over the green in two on the par-5 14th, chipped that to 4 feet and missed the birdie putt.
She took on another front pin at the par-3 15th in a narrow part of the green. That settled 8 feet behind the pin. The birdie putt never had a chance.
Korda missed only two greens but took 32 putts. The short misses have been noticeable even this year when she was runner-up twice to Hyo Joo Kim in consecutive weeks.
Even so, the American star is right where she wants to be. Korda will be in the final group for all five tournaments she has played this year, including her weather-shortened win to start the year at the Tournament of Champions in Florida.
“I’m just going to focus on myself, kind of work on my process, really dial into that, make sure that I have tunnel vision, and not really focus on the exterior noise,” Korda said.
Tavatanakit one-putted every green through six holes and tried to stay in the game, even when falling eight shots behind. She took on the pin at No. 4 and went down a hill, only to hit a superb flop shot to 2 feet for par. It was like that for so much of the day.
“You just do what you got to do,” she said. “It’s a major championship. It’s playing tough. You’re not going to always have your best, but you just got figure out what’s in front of you.”
Farah O'Keefe, the 20-year-old junior at Texas, had a 72 and remained the low amateur at 7-under 209, putting her in a tie for sixth place and nine shots behind.
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