Charley Hull leads, Nelly Korda in pursuit at LPGA’s Annika

BELLEAIR, Fla. — Nelly Korda holed two lengthy birdie putts to start out her restoration from a six-shot deficit to Charley Hull, slicing the lead down to at least one shot Saturday going into the ultimate spherical of The Annika.

Hull saved the lead by limiting the harm to a bogey on the 18th gap on the Pelican Golf Membership after hitting into the water following a prolonged wait that led them to complete in close to darkness. That gave her a 2-under 68.

Korda was poised to tie for the lead when she hit the tough 18th inexperienced about 30 toes away. Her birdie putt down the slope and with the grain towards the water nonetheless ran out 4 toes, and she or he missed the par putt and shot 67.

Each are among the many quickest gamers on the LPGA. Neither was completely happy about the way it ended.

“It is form of arduous when you do not actually see. I feel it was a little bit little bit of poor planning by beginning so late for us,” Korda stated. “Everytime you’re sitting on 18 and the solar is already down, I imply, it is by no means good. And particularly with how slick these greens are and you’ll’t correctly see, I imply, clearly two components that go into that, too.

“On the finish of the day I am the one which missed it.”

Hull was at 12-under 198, one shot away from Korda and Zhang Weiwei, who completed a lot earlier with a 62. Zhang is No. 106 within the Race to CME Globe and desires to complete within the high 100 to maintain a full LPGA card for subsequent yr.

The weekend seemed to be a duel between Korda, the No. 1 participant in ladies’s golf and the LPGA participant of the yr, and the carefree Hull. That is the way it seems to be for the ultimate spherical, although it definitely did not begin out that method.

Korda, who started Saturday two pictures behind, had a pair of bogeys in her opening 4 holes and did not birdie the par-5 seventh. Hull had two birdies to stretch her lead over Korda to 6 pictures, and Hull had a four-shot lead at one level.

Korda holed a brilliant slick, 45-foot birdie putt on the eighth gap, and adopted that with one other easy stroke to make birdie from about 35 toes on No. 9.

The American star saved inching nearer, hitting her method to 2 toes on the eleventh and making a 10-foot birdie putt on the sixteenth. Korda hit wedge to 4 toes on the seventeenth, and Hull answered with a wedge to three toes for matching birdies.

Additionally they matched bogeys on the finish in close to darkness due to the tempo and the time it took to deal with the quick greens and in some instances to get rulings.

Hull got here up quick and it rolled down the financial institution into the water. She chipped about 6 toes by and made the bogey putt, just for Korda to three-putt for bogey.

“My putt, I may barely see the opening,” Hull stated. “I could not see the break or something. So it was fairly darkish to complete in.”

Alexa Pano, taking part in within the ultimate group, by no means recovered from three straight bogeys early and shot a 72 that not solely moved her seven pictures behind, it knocked her out of the highest 60 within the Race to CME Globe.

The highest 60 after this week advance to the CME Group Tour Championship, the place the winner of the season finale will get a $4 million prize.

The highest 60 and high 100 are the important thing numbers on the penultimate match. Zhang most definitely cannot transfer into the highest 60 with a win, however retaining her card is vital. She had 9 birdies and can be within the ultimate group with Korda and Hull.

“Simply felt it is a tremendous day,” Zhang stated.

Olivia Cowan of Germany had a 65 and was in sixth place, 4 pictures behind. She is No. 116 in factors record and desires to carry her place to narrowly preserve her card.