After 54 holes of play at Jian Lake Blue Bay Golf Course, three players are tied for the lead at 12-under par at the Blue Bay LPGA including 20-time LPGA Tour winner Lydia Ko, 2023 LPGA Tour Rookie Bailey Tardy and Rolex Rankings No. 95 Sarah Schmelzel. Each player looks to add a win to their resume on Sunday in the People’s Republic of China.
Ko got her round off to a hot start in a similar fashion to the second round, following up a birdie on the second hole with a chip-in for eagle on her third hole to sit at three under through three holes. She made two more birdies on the par-4 6th and the par-5 8th to turn in a 31 on the front nine. Reaching 11-under par for the tournament, she slipped back to 10-under with a bogey on hole 10. She grabbed her last two birdies on the two par-5s on the back nine to turn in a score of 66. Having already won once this season at the Hilton Grand Vacations Tournament of Champions, Ko is one point away from meeting the minimum threshold to be inducted into the LPGA Hall of Fame. The 26-year-old could earn her 21st win on Sunday, making herself the youngest player to ever be inducted into the LPGA Hall of Fame.
“After last year I wasn't really sure how this year was going to go. To be able to win with Jason in the last event in 2023 was a good bit of confidence booster because I had lost a lot of it during the season. To be able to win the first event on the schedule, especially at my home club, was I think it meant a lot. I was able to play well; close one in Bradenton,” said Ko who finished in second place behind Nelly Korda in the second event of the season. “Still a lot of golf to be played, and it seems like someone shoots a really low score at least one of the rounds. We all know the pin positions dictate the scores, so I just got to stay patient and keep giving myself good looks and see where that puts me.”
Americans Tardy and Schmelzel sit alongside Ko heading into the final round. Playing with Ko on Saturday, Tardy also shot a six-under 66. Her move up to the top of the leaderboard started quickly, making a birdie on her first hole of the day. She nabbed one more birdie on the par-3 4th hole to sit at two under making the turn. In Tardy’s back nine, she made two birdies on holes 11 and 13 as well as an eagle on the par-5 14th to shoot from eight-under par to 12-under par for the tournament in just four holes. She finished with a clutch par save on the last hole to place herself in the final group on Sunday.
Second-round leader Schmelzel finds herself in a tie for the lead once again after a third-round 69. Playing in the last group on Saturday, she made back-to-back birdies on holes 3 and 4 before bogeying the 5th hole. Schmelzel made her second bogey of the day, and third of the tournament on the par-4 10th to move back to nine-under par total. On her back nine, she had another duo of birdies on No. 13 and 14 and carded one more on the par-4 17th. Both Tardy and Schmelzel seek their first wins on the LPGA Tour after one and five years of playing on the Tour respectively.
From the People’s Republic of China, Ruixin Liu sits in solo fourth place with a three-under 69. She carded six birdies and three bogeys in her third round of the Blue Bay LPGA, her debut in the 2024 LPGA Tour season. She sits two shots back of the leaders going into Sunday. She also looks for the opportunity to become a Rolex First-Time Winner on Sunday.
In a tie for fifth place are 2016 Blue Bay LPGA champion Minjee Lee and 2024 LPGA Tour Rookie Savannah Grewal. Lee recorded her second straight round in the 70s on Saturday, turning in a bogey-free 70 to slide one spot back from the lead. As for Grewal, she broke the 18-hole scoring record with her third-round score of 64, previously tied by Lee in both her first round this week and in 2016. Grewal had 10 birdies and just one high number, a double bogey on No. 12, that came from an errant drive. She was able to recover and birdie three of her last four holes. It is her lowest recorded score in just her second start as a professional on the LPGA Tour.
Eight players sit within five shots of leaders Ko, Tardy and Schmelzel headed into Sunday at the Blue Bay LPGA. All players return for the final day of play at Jian Lake Bay Golf Course and play begins at 9:40 a.m. local time.
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