Defending champion Nelly Korda is leading the way at the Meijer LPGA Classic for Simply Give after firing a 6-under, 66 on Moving Day at Blythefield Country Club to post -18. The Rolex Rankings No. 2 got off to a slow start on Saturday, opening her round with six consecutive pars. But, a birdie on the 7th and an eagle on the 8th put some wind back in her sails as she made the turn. Korda went birdie-bogey-birdie on holes 12 through 14, burying an eagle putt on the last to put an exclamation point on what was a challenging day three in Belmont, Mich.
“I had a left-to-righter on 17 that I under-read, and I knew that my putt on 18, when I got up to it, that it was going to be a left-to-righter and I just gave it a little bit more than I thought,” said Korda. “I trusted in my line and it just barely dropped in, but it was a perfect putt and it was great to hear the crowd go wild, too. That was really cool.”
This is Korda’s 14th time holding the lead or co-lead through 54 holes and in the previous 13 instances, she’s gone on to win 7 times, most recently at the 2021 Pelican Women’s Championship. Considering this is only Korda’s second competitive start since she was diagnosed with a blood clot in her left arm back in March, a victory this week would be especially sweet. But Korda is grateful for the opportunity to compete and is looking forward to another tough test as she battles it out against five players in the Rolex Rankings top 10 who will be chasing her down on Sunday at Blythefield.
“So far, I've played pretty well and hopefully I can continue,” said Korda who hit 9 of 13 fairways and 15 of 18 greens in round three. “There are still 18 more holes, still a lot more golf to be played. I'm just happy to be out there playing again. This tournament actually always attracts a lot of the top girls on any type of ranking, so it's cool. Obviously, anything can happen and there are a lot of girls that are close to me and Jennifer, so hopefully, I can put together a good round tomorrow and see how it goes.”
Chevron champion Jennifer Kupcho sits in solo second and one shot back of Korda at -17 after a third-round 69. It was a tough ball-striking day for the 25-year-old – she hit just 6 fairways on Saturday – but she met her goal of shooting 3 under and was proud of her fight when things weren’t going her way. Despite a grueling Saturday, Kupcho is well within reach of that second career victory and knows that it’s still anyone’s tournament with 18 holes left to play.
“I think I kind of just controlled what I could control. Obviously, I do want to win but I didn't have it today, so was just trying to keep myself in it. There was a lot of golf left starting today, so I kind of just tried to remind myself of that and that there is more golf tomorrow,” said Kupcho. “(Nelly is) a really good player. The whole top of the leaderboard are all good players. Anything can happen. Anything can happen on the back nine.”
Two-time Meijer LPGA Classic champion Brooke Henderson is in solo third at -15 with 11-time LPGA Tour winner Lexi Thompson sitting in fourth at -14. Thompson is looking for her first win since the 2019 ShopRite LPGA Classic presented Acer but isn’t looking at the leaderboard going into Championship Sunday.
“I honestly haven't looked at a leaderboard in a while out on the golf course,” said Thompson. “I just want to go out there and play my own game, control my emotions, and that's all I can do. I don't want to focus on anybody else. I know they're going to play great so I have to play great with them.”
Major champions Lydia Ko and Minjee Lee are in a tie for fifth at -13, and Rolex First-Time winner Atthaya Thitikul and 2020 Gainbridge LPGA at Boca Rio champion Madelene Sagstrom are T7 at 12 under. Five players sit at -11 in a tie for ninth, including 2021 Evian champion Anna Nordqvist and Ireland’s Leona Maguire.
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