ORLANDO, FLORIDA | So much for the warmup.
First week of the year, small field, a fair number of hit-and-giggle celebrities, (Have you seen Larry the Cable Guy swing a golf club?) and a cold snap blowing through Central Florida: you might assume that would add up to a ho-hum weekend of nice-but-not-necessarily compelling golf at the Hilton Grand Vacations Tournament of Champions.
Instead, the LPGA Tour has opened the year with a bang louder than the DJ pumping tunes by the 18th green at Lake Nona. Nelly Korda, who has the kind of swagger that puts Clint Eastwood in knee-high socks, zipped up her fleece coat and put on another show, shooting 3-under 69 in a cold rain to get to 13-under and take a one-shot lead into the final round. It was Nelly’s 11th consecutive round in the 60s, going back to the Pelican Women’s Championship, which she won. For those wondering, the record is 14 straight held by Annika Sorenstam, So Yeon Ryu and Jin Young Ko.
Lurking a shot behind is Rolex Rankings No. 10 and major champion Danielle Kang, who also shot 69 while struggling a bit with her driver down the stretch. Kang lost the Tournament of Champions last year in a playoff to another Korda, Jessica, who holed a dramatic 25-foot birdie putt on the first extra hole. Nelly was in that final group last year as well but failed to equal her sister and Kang’s stellar Sunday.
Also tied a shot back at 12-under is Gaby Lopez, who won this event in a dramatic playoff in 2020, the last time we broke out the ski caps in Orlando. Lopez fired a bogey-free 69 on Saturday that included some incredible up-and-downs in less-than-ideal conditions.
Two back and having another outstanding ball-striking week is Brooke Henderson, who felt at home in the cool damp conditions on Saturday. On the range during warmups, her sister and caddie Brittany said, “This reminds me of junior golf days in the spring. All we need is a little sleet.”
“To go out bogey-free today when the conditions were a lot tougher than the last two days, I think we just played smart lines and was able to get up and down when I needed to,” Brooke said. “For the most part I feel like I gave myself a lot of birdie opportunities, which is what you're really looking for on any day, so especially on moving day it was nice to see. Would've liked to climb up a little bit more on the leaderboard. A little work to do tomorrow. But I'm excited for the opportunity.”
Lopez feels the same way.
“Honestly, coming in with low expectations, coming in with a fresh start, with just kind of resetting myself from last year and probably the tiredness and how I was feeling in 2021, being able to come back with good intention and a lot of bravery I think (has made a big difference),” the 28-year-old from Mexico City said. “Being able to step up with Gaby, without her demons and with her doubts and the moments of uncertainty; being able to step up and say, ‘Hey, I'm here for a reason. I worked my whole life for this’, it's pretty cool to see that it's not going to be my only chance in the year. Whatever happens tomorrow is going to be fine. I'm pretty sure we're going to play some solid golf this year.”
Kang, who looked like she might break her driver after a pop fly to shallow right field on 18, said, “Really proud of myself shooting in the 6os in the cold weather, and windy as well. Gave myself good opportunities. It was really tough conditions out there, especially for me. I don't perform quite well in the cold, so I worked on that a lot during this off-season. Even on the last hole I had a 5-wood into the green, so I can't really be like, ‘Oh, one more birdie.’ I go, ‘Well, I have a 5-wood and there's water, so got to do the best I can.’ But I'm proud of my round today. I made a lot of mistakes but really good up and downs as well.”
As if this cadre of champions fighting to the finish is not enough, a familiar name leads the celebrity division. Annika Sorenstam, who drove her golf cart to the course from her home on Lake Nona, put up 36 points in the stableford competition on Saturday to take a two-point lead over Derek Lowe into the final round.
“Well, I am super excited that I'm leading by two,” Sorenstam said. “I would certainly have taken that at the beginning of the week.”
Every fan of the game would have said the same thing about this leaderboard. If you love golf, a heck of a finale in Florida awaits.
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