Lydia Go's 3rd round match
Lydia Go (New Zealand) continued her hopes of winning two consecutive LPGA Tour tournaments.
Lydia Ko finished 2 under par with 4 birdies and 2 bogeys in the 3rd round of the LPGA Drive On Championship (total prize money of $1.75 million) held at Bradenton Country Club (par 71, 6,557 yards) in Florida, USA on the 28th (Korean time). I shot 69.
Lydia Ko, who recorded a midterm total of 9 under par 204 strokes, was tied for second place, 4 strokes behind leader Nellie Korda (USA, 13 under par 200 strokes).
Lydia Ko achieved her 20th win on the LPGA Tour last week at the Hilton Grand Vacations Tournament of Champions, the opening game of the 2024 season, and is only 'one point' away from being inducted into the Hall of Fame.
As one Hall of Fame point is awarded for winning a general competition, if Lydia Go wins this competition as well, she will enter the Hall of Fame with two consecutive wins to open the 2024 season.
Lydia Go, who was tied for the lead with Koda on the first day of this competition, tied for 3rd in the second round and tied for 2nd in the third round, leaving hope on the final day.
On this day, Lydia Go had a good performance, reducing 3 strokes in the first half, including 2nd to 3rd consecutive birdies, but only recorded a bogey at the 14th hole (par 4) in the second half.
After the game, he said, "I feel more comfortable being one point away from the Hall of Fame than being two points away. I thought the Hall of Fame was out of my reach, so to have this opportunity is really cool." “I will try,” he said.
Koda, who tied for the lead in the first round and sole lead in the second round, maintained the top of the leaderboard in the third round, and gained even more momentum in the second half of the day.
In the first half, he faltered with consecutive bogeys in the 7th and 8th holes after a birdie on the 6th hole (par 5), but after a birdie on the 13th hole (par 4), an eagle on the 17th hole (par 5) and a birdie on the 18th hole (par 4) gave him a comeback. By showing this, he opened a gap with the players chasing him.
If Koda wins this tournament, she will reach the top of the LPGA Tour tournament in about 1 year and 2 months after the Pelican Championship in November 2022 and achieve her 9th win in total.
Among Korean players, Kim Se-young ranked highest with 8 under par, 205 strokes, tied for 5th place.Auston Kim (USA) and Robin Choi (Australia) also tied for 5th place.
Kim A-rim and Lee Mi-hyang tied for 14th place (4 under par, 209 strokes), Lee So-mi, who was playing her first tournament as an LPGA tour ‘rookie’, tied for 22nd place (3 under par, 210 strokes), and Choi Hye-jin tied for 30th place (2 under par, 211 strokes) after the third round. finished.
Last season's rookie of the year, Yoo Hae-ran, tied for 33rd place (1 under par, 212 strokes), and Jeon In-ji tied for 45th place (1 over par, 214 strokes) with rookies Seong Yu-jin and Kang Min-ji. 19가이드03
