KPMG Women's PGA Championship R3: Nelly Korda gives frank assessment after 'brutal' day in Texas
American World No.1 Nelly Korda claimed the third round of the KPMG Women's PGA Championship was more like playing the Women's Open.
Position | Player name | Total score | R1 | R2 | R3 |
1 | Minjee Lee | -6 | 69 | 72 | 69 |
2 | Atthaya Thitikul | -2 | 68 | 70 | 76 |
3 | Hye-Jin Choi | +1 | 75 | 70 | 72 |
3 | Lexi Thompson | +1 | 72 | 70 | 75 |
3 | Miyu Yamashita | +1 | 73 | 71 | 73 |
6 | Chisato Iwai | +2 | 71 | 72 | 75 |
6 | Yealimi Noh | +2 | 70 | 74 | 74 |
6 | Leona Maguire | +2 | 72 | 74 | 72 |
6 | Nelly Korda | +2 | 72 | 74 | 72 |
10 | Auston Kim | +3 | 71 | 72 | 76 |
10 | So-Mi Lee | +3 | 70 | 73 | 76 |
10 | Chanettee Wannasaen | +3 | 75 | 72 | 72 |
10 | Grace Kim | +3 | 73 | 78 | 68 |
10 | Ruoning Yin | +3 | 76 | 71 | 72 |
15 | Shin-Sil Bang | +4 | 71 | 73 | 76 |
15 | Charley Hull | +4 | 78 | 69 | 73 |
Nelly Korda admitted the conditions during the third round of the KPMG Women's PGA Championship were so brutal she felt like she was playing the Women's Open.
Korda went round Fields Ranch East in Texas in level par 72 on Saturday and was relieved to get inside the clubhouse.
Gusts of up to 35pmh wreaked havoc and several players accumulated huge scores.
Semi-retired Lexi Thompson got herself into contention after 36 holes but dropped four strokes in her first two holes and tumbled down the leaderboard.
Thompson topped her approach into the par-5 first and complained to her caddie the wind knocked her off balance.
The 30-year-old eventually carded a 3-over 75 and trails 54-hole leader Minjee Lee by seven strokes.
Lee was one of only two players who managed to get into the red numbers on moving day with a superb 3-under 69.
The Australian is hunting her third major title and the third leg of the career grand slam.
Lee, whose brother Min Woo plays on the PGA Tour, also won the 2022 US Women's Open and the 2021 Evian Championship.
Thailand's Jeeno Thitikul, one of the tournament favourites who could leapfrog Korda as the world number one with victory, is four shots adrift of Lee.
"Trust me, it's so brutal out here," Korda, who is in a share for fourth, later told Golf Channel's Cara Banks.
"The greens are so firm. It's blowing 30 to 35 miles an hour. It's messing with your putts. You're just happy to get 18 under your belt on a day like this.
"Yeah, it's just brutal. Like you're exhausted after these days because it's such a premium to hit the fairways but you're starting it so far right.
"It's almost like you're playing a British but you can't run it up to these greens because if you hit it short of some of these greens it just sucks it straight back.
"It's just very interesting to play in these conditions the past couple days."
Korda added: "Yeah, I mean, my caddie and I were talking. We were like, there is just not a hole where like if you make a bogey, okay, this is an opportunity to bounce back. It's just so hard and demanding in every aspect.
"It's definitely testing you. I thought Erin Hills [venue for the 2025 US Women's Open] was a mental test, but jeez, this one is a real mental test."
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