Nelly Korda Moves into the Lead at the HSBC Women’s World Championship

As the third round of the HSBC Women’s World Championship got underway, Kelly Norda took a one-stroke lead over Danielle Kang. Korda shot 7 under on Saturday after Kang had a bogey to fall into behind Korda.

Korda performed well at the Sentosa Golf Club in the third round scoring birdies on eight holes and had one bogey finishing the day at 15 under and earning a guaranteed spot in the final round.

For Kang, the day proved a challenge as she was out front of Korda by 4 strokes and closed out the day one shot behind. After failing to make a bogey on her last 50 holes, and making several mistakes, the day was disastrous to some extent, but Kang managed to hold onto second place none the less.

Said Kang on the third round,

“It actually doesn’t bother me. I wasn’t really thinking about whether I was going to be in the lead tomorrow or chasing, but Nelly had a really solid game today. I didn’t want to finish on a bogey … but I gave myself a really good par chance.”

Smiths Falls, Ontario’s Brooke Henderson had an equally positive third-round scoring 65 and matching that of Korda and is now tied for third with Minjee Lee.

Said Henderson,

“I had nine putts on the back nine, which is really awesome. Just a great day and got up-and-down when I needed to and climbed the leaderboard.”

Alena Sharp of Hamilton, Ontario also had her strongest round of the championship shooting 70 and finishing the day in 57th place.

Nelly Korda, 19 is playing in her second year on the tour and still trying to get her first win. If Korda is successful on the final day of competition, she will join the list of those from the Korda family who have had success in golf. Her brother won the Junior Boys at the Australian Open in January and her father Petr is also an Australian Open winner. To add to the family history in golf, her sister won the Thailand LPGA Tour event this month.

LPGA

Speaking about her motivation, Korda said,

“I’m definitely inspired by her win and it definitely motivated me a bunch. It was the first tournament of the year and for her to come and crush it the way she did, it was definitely inspiring and hopefully we’ll see where tomorrow takes me. She’s still there. So she still has a chance. Everyone does.”

During the round, Kelly managed to shoot birdies on three consecutive holes and added five more as she played the final nine. She only had one small hiccup on the 12th hole and tied Kang on the 14th hole and took the lead on the 16th.

As reported yesterday, Kang broke a tooth during playing the second round and was nearly late for tee-off while resting before the round got underway.

Said Kang,

“I was hitting the correct shots. I was aggressive when I needed to be, so I’m just happy with the way it ended and really looking forward to tomorrow.”

As reported yesterday, Kang broken a tooth during playing the second round and was nearly late for tee-off while resting before the round got underway.

Said Kang,

“Every day, it’s drama. My life is a drama. I don’t love drama. Drama loves me. Nothing could be perfect every day, so just got to take it and run with it.”