Ina Yoon started the third round of the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship with a five-shot lead after tearing up Hazeltine National Golf Club in back-to-back rounds. But the 23-year-old, who had never held the lead in a major before this week, struggled mightily on Saturday, and now there are several big names who could win the trophy, including World No. 1 Nelly Korda.
Haeran Ryu took over the lead with her fine putting and shot a four-under 68 to take a one-shot lead over Brooke Henderson (69). Ryu, 25, has been close to winning a major before, with three top-six finishes, and she’s got another shot Sunday. She’s hoping to play in a zen-like state.
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“Today on my front nine, it was amazing because I got an eagle and three birdies,” the South Korean said. “I started the back nine, and it was more windy and there were a lot of tough shots and tough putts, but I just made one bogey today. Good for me for tomorrow, and tomorrow I just want to have more confidence and more calm.”
The round was anything but calm for South Korea’s Yoon, who is just two shots back of Ryu, She’s not out of it, but it probably felt like it after a rough start Saturday. Yoon bogeyed four of the first six holes and rallied to keep things from completely falling apart with a three-over 75. She admitted that the nerves got to her.
“I had a really long day actually, especially on the front nine,” Yoon said. “I was nervous a lot. I missed short putts. That’s what I expected. I’m learning still. I think it was way better than the second round of the U.S. Open [when she shot 79]. I keep improving. I think that’s the point today.”
Yoon is gunning for her first LPGA win, and it happens to be a major. She was raw and vulnerable in talking about what happens when she’s nervous and how she tries to cope.
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“Of course, like many butterflies in my body, not just stomach,” Yoon said. “Sometimes I’m shaking, like everyone does. And I breathe fast, so I try to breathe slower and walk slower.”
Korda, who is four shots behond Ryu after shooting 71 in the third round, is still in a fine position to win her third consecutive major and earn the last two points to get into the LPGA Hall of Fame.
Asked why she didn’t have the round she would’ve liked, Korda returned with a question: “What do you think?”
When the reporter responded with putting, Korda then agreed.
“OK, thank you. Yeah, just left a few putts out there,” said Korda, who needed 31 putts.
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For Ryu, the last major she played in was April’s Chevron Championship, where she tied for 12th. She finished second in the Kroger Queen City Championship in mid-May and then took a month off with undisclosed minor surgery that forced her to miss the U.S. Women’s Open at Riviera.
Ryu has suffered just one bogey over the last 41 holes, and that’s come after she switched back to her old putter after the first round. She had decided to put a new one into play just before the tournament began. She shot the outright best round on Friday (64) and tied for the best (68) on Saturday.
Henderson—who won the Women’s PGA Championship 10 years ago at Sahalee—will play in the final group with Ryu and is only a shot back. The Canadian’s sister and former caddie, Brooke, had her first child, a baby girl, this week and named her Sahalee because of their Women’s PGA win together. Henderson, 28, now has her cousin, Ryan Henderson, on the bag.
“It’s been an awesome week. Honestly, I think it’s just all thanks to my niece coming into this world. I’ve just been really happy,” Henderson said. “I’ve been working really hard on myself and also my game coming into this week, so I feel like it’s nice to see it pay off a bit. Thanks to my niece, I feel like we’re riding good energy, and I’m just looking forward to the opportunity tomorrow to hopefully post a good round and just see what happens.”
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