Nelly Korda entered the weekend at the AIG Women’s Open in Surrey, England tied for 28th and nine shots off Ally Ewing’s lead. Following an impressive 3-under 67 on moving day, the world’s number one ranked player is suddenly in contention in the final major of the year.
AIG Women’s Open: Nelly Korda flies up leaderboard into contention of final major
Korda, the former Women’s PGA Championship winner and current world No. 1, made use of moving day to climb up the Women’s AIG Open leaderboard.
Photo by Luke Walker/Getty Images for HSBC
She sits at 4-under par for the tournament and is five shots back, with Ewing coming back to the field after taking a five shot lead into the weekend.
It actually could have been much better for the former Women’s PGA Championship winner.
She opened her round with two birdies in the first three holes and ultimately carded a front nine 32. Then on the par-5 11th, she really jumped up the leaderboard.
Korda chipped in for eagle from the rough just off the green. The pushed her to 6-under and into solo 2nd place.
But back to back bogeys on the par-4 13th and par-4 14th put a halt to that momentum. She got one back on 16, but finished her round with a bogey-5 on 18, finishing 3-under for the round.
Nevertheless, she is T9 with a host of others. Ewing struggled Saturday, posting a 3-over 75. That erased her five shot lead as she suddenly trails Charley Hull and Lilla Vu by two strokes.
The Walton Heath golf course has played very tough for much of the field. That includes 20-year-old phenom Rose Zhang, who carded a 3-over Saturday. That dropped her to 2-over for the tournament and likely a finish outside the top-10 of a major for the first time in her pro career.
With leaders finishing their round, there are 13 golfers within four shots of the lead. It should make for a very entertaining Sunday.
Kendall Capps is the Senior Editor/Site Manager for SB Nation’s Playing Through. Be sure to check out @_PlayingThrough for more coverage.
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