Nelly Korda on cusp of third LPGA major title, leads by 5 at Chevron Championship

HOUSTON – As Nelly Korda opened up an eight-shot lead at the Chevron Championship, the Houston fire department was trying to break into the pro shop to check out what apparently turned out to be a false alarm.

Needless to say, things got heated at Memorial Park on Saturday, where fans came out to see if anyone could rise up to challenge Korda. After four birdies on the front side, Korda cooled down, playing the last 12 holes in 2 over. By day's end, she'd shot 2-under 70 to get to 16 under, still good enough for a five-shot lead, the largest 54-hole lead of her LPGA career.

Korda is the first player to lead the Chevron by multiple strokes after each of the first three rounds since Lorena Ochoa 20 years ago. A victory on Sunday would give Korda 17 LPGA victories and three majors titles. It would also give her 22 of the 27 points needed to enter the LPGA Hall of Fame.

"I played really solid on the front and then just kind of – not may have lost concentration," said Korda, "but the wind started picking up and then I just put myself into, I mean, I put myself into great positions; didn't kind of execute really well."

Korda hit 16 greens, the most this week, and took 32 putts, up from 24 and 27 in the first two rounds.

Korda's closest pursuer is former Chevron champion Patty Tavatanakit, who made par or better on her first 48 holes of the tournament. It marked the longest bogey-free streak to start a major since Bronte Law played the first three rounds of the 2019 AIG Women's British Open without a dropped shot.

"It was pretty incredible," said Korda. "She was definitely making some insane up-and-downs and she has this flow to her chipping and to her entire game where it looks super easy. She looks very confident around the greens."

Tavatanakit shot a second consecutive 69 to get to 11 under, while former KPMG Women's PGA winner Ruoning Yin shot 66 to get to 10 under with Frenchwoman Pauline Roussin-Bouchard (67).

"I'm really proud of how I putt right now because I've been struggling with putting for a long time," said Yin, who experimented with a broomstick putter for several months before switching back to conventional length.

Both Gaby Lopez (T-6) and Lexi Thompson (T-10) matched the day's low round of 66.

Amateur Farah O'Keefe, the Texas junior who ranks No. 4 in the world, heads into the final round in a share of sixth. It's the best 54-hole position by an amateur at the Chevron since Morgan Pressel in 2005.