UPDATE 5:17 p.m ET - Practice facilities are now open. All players and caddies will get in vans in front of clubhouse at 5:30p. Play will resume at 5:45p
UPDATE 5:00 p.m. ET - The final round of the Marathon Classic remains suspended. Next update will be at 5:20p
UPDATE 4:15 p.m. ET - The final round of the Marathon Classic was suspended at 3:58 p.m. due to severe weather in the area. Updates to follow.
Rookie Nelly Korda has a chance to do what her older sister Jessica hasn’t been able to do since 2015: win on the LPGA Tour.
Korda leads heading into Sunday’s finale at the Marathon Classic presented by Owens Corning and O-I after a 5-under-par 66. Korda was 4-under par through her first seven holes before bogeying the par-4 9th and running off a string of pars.
She birdied her final two holes of the day (the back-to-back par 5s on No’s 17 and 18) to pull ahead by two heading into Sunday.
“When you end on a birdie, you're just really excited to play the next day and get it doing, so I'm definitely excited,” said Korda. “My mentality hasn't changed. It's the same as the first two days. I just try to take it shot by shot really.”
Korda, who got her rookie campaign started with a bang at the first event of the year – she finished tied for fifth at the Pure Silk Bahamas LPGA Classic – has had steady first season on the LPGA Tour, but a win would be a great notch in her belt as her career gets started, especially considering how much she has learned so far in 2017.
“I've learned a lot my rookie year out here,” explained Korda. “It's definitely a key to stay patient and really to take it shot by shot. I've been in a couple positions where I've been on top of the leaderboard, and I just really got ahead of myself, started thinking too far ahead, and I just told myself I need to calm down really, take it shot by shot and stay calm, breathe a little bit more and just stay calm.”
There is no shortage of golfers nipping at Korda’s heels, led by In Kyung Kim at 13-under par, just two shots back. Kim birdied her final hole of the day to reach 13-under for the championship and she thinks Highland Meadows Golf Club fits her eye.
“I feel really good about playing this golf course. I've always liked this golf course,” said Kim.
If Kim were to win Sunday, she would become the second golfer on the LPGA Tour this season to win twice. However, she’s just trying to take things one shot at a time.
“I think it would be really fun to play great and win the tournament. But I really look forward to having an opportunity to play great golf,” she explained. “The fans out here are really amazing, and I have really good friends, so I feel supported.”
A shot further back of Kim are six golfers at 12-under, including Sandra Changkija, Aditi Ashok, Lexi Thompson, Peiyun Chien, 36-hole leader Gerina Piller, and U.S. Women’s Open champion Sung Hyun Park.
Park admitted she tried to bring some good memories from last week’s major triumph to the Marathon Classic and is hoping for another good result Sunday.
She too would be become the 2017 season’s first two-time winner if she was to emerge victorious. Park already has five top-5 finishes on the year and is virtually a lock to secure Rookie of the Year honors over the likes of Korda.
Thompson fired a 2-under-par 69 and is in contention once again on the LPGA Tour. She has a victory already this year and has lost in two playoffs, and it seems like week-after-week she is challenging for the lead. She admitted Saturday she isn’t hitting the ball flight she’s used to seeing, but it’s getting her around.
“I hit it very solid the last few days, so there are a lot of positives to take from it,” she said.
Thompson stated it’s going to take a low round to beat Korda Sunday, the way she’s playing.
“I've always known that (Korda is) a great player, has a lot of talent, long off the tee, and overall just a very solid player. It's going to take a low one tomorrow to beat her, and there's a lot of great players around her,” said Thompson. “It's going to take a lot of birdies.”
Brittany Lincicome sits alone in ninth place at 11-under par, and credits her fine play this week to how comfortable she feels in Toledo, Ohio.
“I have wonderful housing this week. I've been in the same housing for 11 years, and we've just been cooking every night and we played Scrabble a couple nights ago, so I think just having a super laid-back kind of week just kind of frees me up to play some good golf,” she stated.
Chella Choi rounds out the top 10, sitting alone in 10th place at 9-under par for the championship. She fired a 2-under-par 69 Sunday.
A foursome of golfers sit at 9-under, while defending champion Lydia Ko is one of four who are at 8-under par. Ko fired a 6-under-par 65 Saturday – tied for low round of the day – to catapult up the leaderboard. She moved from a tie for 56th to a tie for 19th.
Toledo’s own Stacy Lewis was even par in round three, and sits tied for 48th heading into Sunday’s finale.
Due to poor weather in the area, the tee times were moved up and groups went off in threesomes off split tees.
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