Washington (AFP) – South Korea’s Ryu Hae-ran made three birdies Sunday morning to grab a one-stroke lead over history-chasing Nelly Korda and Canada’s Brooke Henderson after the completion of the storm-hit third round of the Chevron Championship.
Ryu, last year’s LPGA Rookie of the Year, finished 54 holes at Carlton Woods in suburban Houston on 11-under par 205 after completing a five-under 67 for the third round at the first women’s major of the season.
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Tested by changing winds and more than 1.5 inches of overnight rain after play was halted Saturday, Ryu birdied the 13th, 14th and 18th holes to claim the lead by a stroke over final-group playing partners Henderson and Korda.
“It was so cold and windy. It was so tough for me,” Ryu said. “Every player it’s tough in the morning, but always mindset just to keep thinking about my swing.”
Ryu, chasing her first major crown, took her only LPGA Tour victory at last October’s Northwest Arkansas Championship.
World number one Korda is eyeing a fifth consecutive LPGA victory to match the tour’s all-time record shared by Nancy Lopez from 1978 and Sweden’s Annika Sorenstam from 2004-05.
Korda made seven pars to close out her third round, leaving her with a third-round 69 and a share of second with Henderson, whose final par gave her a 64, the lowest round since the event moved from Rancho Mirage, California.
“You have to adjust to whatever is thrown your way,” Korda said. “It just played like a completely different course. The strategies we had for yesterday were completely thrown out the window.”
American Korda, the daughter of former Czech tennis star Petr Korda, won her only major crown at the 2021 Women’s PGA Championship.
But she has won her first four starts of the year at January’s Drive On Championship, last month’s Seri Pak and Ford championships and the LPGA Match Play earlier this month.
Henderson owns two major titles, the 2016 Women’s PGA Championship and the 2022 Evian Championship.
“It was really fun to climb up the leaderboard as much as I did,” said Henderson. “I’m really excited for the final round. Hopefully I’ll make a few more birdies.”
Thailand’s Atthaya Thitikul made three birdies in her first 11 holes to own a one-stroke lead when play was halted on Saturday.
But bogeys at 14, 15 and 16 dropped her into a share of fourth entering the final round with Sweden’s Maja Stark and South Korean Im Jin-hee.
© 2024 AFP
