Coughlin takes 2-shot lead over Korda into Aramco Championship final round

Nanna Koerstz Madsen and Miyu Yamashita were each 3 under and Leona Maguire was 1 under.

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“Shadow definitely showed its colours the last couple days,” Korda said. “It’s been playing brutally hard, especially the back nine.”

Hyo Joo Kim almost certainly won’t extend her LPGA Tour winning streak to three after she opened the round with two bogeys and a double bogey over the first three holes. She dropped from a tie for second all the way down to a tie for 17th at 4 over after a 79.

Anna Huang of Vancouver sits sixth at even par. Brooke Henderson of Smiths Falls, Ont., is tied for 33rd at 7 over.

Being within striking is one thing in this loaded event, which has a $4 million purse and is co-sanctioned with the Ladies European Tour and part of Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund Global Series. Making an actual charge is another as Saturday showed with several players getting close to Coughlin, but failing to make up the difference.

Korda, the world’s second-ranked player and the 2024 champion of this event, came the closet, even getting to within a stroke before Coughlin birdied the par-5 18th.

Korda began to make an early charge after registering birdies at third and fourth holes to get to 4 under. She then hung around with pars on the next 10 holes before bogeying the par-4 15th to drop to 3 under. But Korda then finished birdie-birdie.

This year is beginning to resemble the magical 2024 season for Korda, who won seven times en route to becoming Player of the Year. Certainly better than last season when she failed to record a victory.

Through three tournaments this year, Korda owns a victory and two second-place finishes.

“I’m just playing really good golf,” Korda said. “I have always worked really, really hard, but I’m proud of the work that I’ve put in the past few weeks when I had off and didn’t go to Asia when the tour was there. I just feel refreshed, happy. I’m excited to compete.

“Last year was just a weird year where stuff was just not going my way by like centimetres. That wears on you, and that’s why I like taking like longer breaks.”

Coughlin last won in 2024, finishing first in Canada and Scotland.

She almost won at Shadow Creek last year, too, when it was a match-play event. Coughlin made it to the final pairing before losing to Madelene Sagstrom.

Her strong performance again this week shows Coughlin knows how to work her way around the course much better than most of her competitors.

“There are a few holes that you can make birdies, like the par 5s, 11, 12,” Coughlin said. “So trying to take advantage when you can and just holding on for dear life on the other holes.”

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AP golf: https://apnews.com/hub/golf

Mark Anderson, The Associated Press