IN GEE IN THE HUNT
Two-time major champion and 2016 Louise Suggs Rolex Rookie of the Year In Gee Chun heads into the final day at the Kingsmill Championship just three shots back from leader Lexi Thompson. Chun was blemish free on the front nine, but with two bogeys to match two birdies on the back nine, she knows she can improve for the final day.
“Lexi plays really well this week,” Chun said after her round on Saturday. “So I know my swing feel was not perfect, but I try keep going and then see where I am later.”
With two runner-up finishes already this season, Chun will be looking for her third career LPGA tournament title and the first since she took home the 2016 Evian Championship.
WORLD NO. 1 KO IN GOOD SPOT
Rolex Rankings No. 1 Lydia Ko will open the final round of the Kingsmill Championship five strokes off the lead, tied with No. 8 Sei Young Kim and No. 19 Minjee Lee for third place.
Ko birdied three of her last four holes on Saturday, but a change in strategy may be in order to make a charge on Sunday. “In some cases I might need to be a little bit more aggressive in some positions,” she said. “But at the end, I just got to focus on that one shot at the time. Sometimes being too aggressive might lead to a mistake.”
So Yeon Ryu, who trails Ko by only .23 points in the Rolex Rankings, enters the final day tied for 15th (-4) alongside defending Kingsmill championAriya Jutanguarn, who sits .25 points behind Ko. With a win at Kingsmill, Ko will hold onto the World No. 1 ranking, but there are numerous scenarios that forecast Ryu or Jutanugarn taking over the top spot.
- If Lydia Ko wins, she will remain No. 1
- If either So Yeon Ryu or Ariya Jutanugarn win, they will become No. 1
- If Ko, Ryu and Ariya finish T2, Ko will remain No. 1
- If Ko and Ariya finish T2 AND Ryu finishes 3rd or worse, Ko will remain No. 1
So Yeon Ryu could take over No. 1 if any of the following scenarios (12th or better finish) occur:
- Ryu is T2 with Ariya AND Ko finishes 3rd or worse
- Ryu is 2nd alone AND Ko and Ariya finishes T3 or worse
- Ryu is 3rd alone AND Ko and Ariya finishes T4 or worse
- Ryu is 4th alone AND Ko finishes 6th or worse AND Ariya finishes 5th or worse
- Ryu is 5th alone AND Ko finishes 11th or worse AND Ariya finishes 6th or worse
- Ryu is 6th alone AND Ko is not in top 14 AND Ariya is not in top 6
- Ryu is 7th alone AND Ko is not in top 18 AND Ariya is not in top 7
- Ryu is 8th alone AND Ko is not in top 24 AND Ariya is not in top 8
- Ryu is 9th alone AND Ko is not in top 30 AND Ariya is not in top 9
- Ryu is 10th alone AND Ko is not in top 40 AND Ariya is not in top 10
- Ryu is 11th alone AND Ko is not in top 50 AND Ariya is not in top 11
- Ryu is 12th alone AND Ko is not in the top 61 AND Ariya is not in the top 12
Ariya Jutanugarn could take over No. 1 if any of the following scenarios (7th or better finish) occur:
- Ariya is 2nd alone AND Ko and Ryu finish T3 or worse
- Ariya is 3rd alone AND Ko is not in top 5 AND Ryu is not in top 3
- Ariya is 4th alone AND Ko is not in top 8 AND Ryu is not in top 4
- Ariya is 5th alone AND Ko is not in top 14 AND Ryu is not in top 5
- Ariya is 6th alone AND Ko is not in top 21 AND Ryu is not in top 7
- Ariya is 7th alone AND Ko is not in top 29 AND Ryu is not in top 8
QUOTABLE
“If this is light breeze, I don’t know what windy is.”
- Rolex Rankings No. 1 Lydia Ko on the weather during her third round on Saturday at the River Course
“It’s truly amazing just to see the amount of fans out. And little kids. That’s what we really want to see. Just hearing them cheer us on, it’s the best feeling. The fans make the game.”
- Lexi Thompson on the gallery following her at Kingsmill Resort
QUICK HITS
Lexi Thompson’s 14-under 199 is tied for the third-lowest 54-hole score in Kingsmill history, behind Paula Creamer’s 197 in 2012 and the 198s of Cristie Kerr (2009) and Lindsey Wright (199)
Lexi Thompson and In Gee Chun, the top two players on the leaderboard, lead the field with 16 birdies each this week
Thompson has hit 47 of 54 greens so far to lead the tournament
Thompson is looking for her eighth career LPGA victory and first at Kingsmill
This is the 11th time in her LPGA career that Thompson has been the leader or co-leader after 54 holes
Thompson’s 14-under 199 is her third-lowest 54-hole score at an LPGA tournament, following 196s at the 2017 Pure Silk-Bahamas LPGA Classic and 2013 Sime Darby LPGA Malaysia and a 198 at the 2016 Meijer LPGA Classic
If Thompson can return a score in the 60s on Sunday, it would be the sixth time she scored all four rounds in the 60s in an LPGA tournament
Thompson’s lowest LPGA career final-round score is a 65, which she has shot on two occasions; she shot a 65 in each of the first two rounds at Kingsmill this week
Thompson’s best closing round at Kingsmill is a 66, which she shot in 2015 en route to a T5 finish
This is In Gee Chun’s second Kingsmill appearance; she finished T10 in 2016
This is the 16th time in Chun’s LPGA career that she been within five shots of the lead entering the final round. While she has only been able to convert two victories, they both came in majors – the 2015 U.S. Women’s Open and the 2016 Evian Championship.
Sei Young Kim fired the low round of the day, a 5-under 66 to match her lowest round of the 2017 season, which she shot in the second round of the Pure Silk-Bahamas LPGA Classic
As the 2017 Lorena Ochoa Match Play champion, Kim is looking to become the LPGA’s first back-to-back winner since Shanshan Feng won the 2016 Sime Darby LPGA Malaysia and TOTO Japan Classic
In two appearances at the Kingsmill Championship, Minjee Lee has a win (2015) and a T10 finish (2016)
Outside one missed cut (Kia Classic) and a withdrawal (Volunteers of America Texas Shootout), Lydia Ko has finished no worse than T11 in her last eight starts
Mo Martin and Dana Finkelstein hit all 14 fairways on Saturday; Martin leads the entire field with 41 of 42 fairways hit during the tournament
Perrine Delacour led the field with seven birdies in the third round
Brittany Lincicome is the longest hitter through 54 holes, averaging 287.8 yards off the tee
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