Nelly Korda was one shot off the lead at the Chevron Championship when the third round was suspended Saturday because of lightning in the area.
Play at Carlton Woods was halted just before 3 p.m. and
called for the day two-and-a-half hours later with dangerous conditions
remaining. The third round of the LPGA’s first major of the season will resume
Sunday morning, with the final round scheduled to commence just before 9:30
a.m.
Korda, who is trying to tie an LPGA Tour record with her
fifth straight victory, was 3-under 41 through 11 holes in the third round and
10 under overall. She entered Saturday one shot off the lead after posting a
7-under 137 through the first two rounds.
The top-ranked Korda is seeking her second major after
winning the Women’s PGA Championship in 2021. She could join Nancy Lopez (1978)
and Annika Sorenstam (2004-05) as the only players to win five consecutive LPGA
events.
Korda was asked about the challenges of having to finish the
third round Sunday before playing the final round.
“I think you just have to try to be positive about it and
just tell yourself that you can’t get caught up in possibly girls being on 18
or not having that many holes left,” she said. “If you think about it
positively, then I have a lot of opportunities left in the day that I can go
out and maybe capitalize on a couple of them, then that’s good. But I’m going
to think about it positively rather than negatively.”
Canadian Brooke Henderson, who was at 2-under 142 through
two rounds, rocketed up the leaderboard and into a tie with Korda for second
Saturday by shooting an 8-under 59 through 17 holes.
“It was on six when I made that par save,” Henderson said.
“It really kept my round alive, and then from there I was able to get things
going. It was really fun to kind of get on a bit of a run. I feel like this
year I’ve just played pretty solid, but I haven’t really seen that run and kind
of had that excitement. That was really fun for me today, and hopefully just do
something similar tomorrow.”
Henderson, who has 13 LPGA wins with two majors, had a
one-putt streak of 10 with six birdies and an eagle in that stretch.
“Anytime my putter gets to working, I’m pretty happy because
ball-striking is usually a strength of mine,” she said. “This week I’ve been
hitting it really well, so when I’ve been able to make a few putts, it feels
really good, and hopefully keep it hot tomorrow.”
Atthaya Thitikul had the lead at 11 under and was through 12
holes when play was suspended. She started the round tied with Jin Hee Im for
the lead with a 136 in the first two rounds.
Thitikul, a 21-year-old from Thailand who has won twice on
the LPGA Tour and missed the beginning of this season with a thumb injury, was
asked about how she expects the normally firm greens to play Sunday, with rain
expected to continue overnight.
“The greens are going to play a little bit easier, but the
drives, other things may be harder,” she said. “I don’t know what it’s going to
be like because some holes we have the wind, and it’s helped. Maybe you have a
bunker on the way and then you can get over it. But if it’s soft and kind of
like not dry, then maybe you couldn’t get over some holes.”
Im was in fourth place at 9 under Saturday through 11 holes.
AP
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