NORTH LAS VEGAS, Nev. — Nelly Korda stored her hopes alive for a fourth consecutive LPGA Tour victory by taking pictures a 3-under 69 on Friday for a three-day complete of 1-under par within the T-Cellular Match Play, placing her into the quarterfinals for the beginning of match play.
The highest-ranked Korda, the sixth seed after three days of stroke play, will face third-seeded Angel Yin on Saturday morning.
Leona Maguire captured the highest seed with a 69 for a 6-under complete. She’s going to meet Moriya Jutanugarn, who received a four-way playoff for the ultimate spot. No. 2 Minami Katsu will face No. 7 Narin An and No. 4 Rose Zhang will meet No. 5 Sei Younger Kim.
The semifinals are Saturday afternoon, whereas the ultimate is Sunday.
Of the ultimate eight, 5 are ranked within the prime 40. That features 2020 LPGA Tour Participant in Kim and 20-year-old phenom in Zhang, taking part in in her adopted hometown as she tries to win her second profession title.
“I really like match play,” mentioned Zhang, who received two nationwide championships at Stanford. “You get to play on like Solheim Cups, junior groups, newbie occasions, however you do not actually get to see that lots out right here. I am actually excited to return into that. It’s going to remind me of school days, simply grinding it out towards an opponent.”
The quarterfinalists overcame 1½ days of dismal climate and a difficult Shadow Creek course that punishes errant pictures. The reduce line to make the match play portion was 2 over.
“We thought that possibly 1 over to 2 over would get in, so wasn’t targeted an excessive amount of on a rating with the robust situations,” Korda mentioned. “This golf course is already onerous sufficient with none wind, with out it dropping in temperature as nicely.”
Korda mentioned, nonetheless, she preferred taking part in in iffy situations as a result of it brings out her inventive facet. And the climate labored to her benefit in different methods as nicely.
After taking pictures 73 in every of the primary two rounds, excessive wind Thursday afternoon introduced the sphere again to her. Korda performed within the morning that day when the climate situations have been a lot calmer, and nobody with a day tee time broke par.
The climate worsened Friday. Along with wind gusts of 30 mph, rain hit the course within the afternoon and the excessive was 59 levels, a 19-degree drop from the day prior to this’s prime temperature.
Korda is trying to change into the primary participant to win 4 in a row since Lorena Ochoa in 2008.
She had 4 birdies on the entrance 9, together with three straight earlier than making the flip. Korda performed the again facet at 1 over.
Maguire started the day fifth, however moved to the highest together with her second 69 in a row, together with birdies on her remaining two holes. She additionally performed nicely on this occasion final 12 months when it was utterly match play and did not embody stroke play, ending third.
“I really like this golf course,” Maguire mentioned. “I believe it is among the best, if not the very best, golf course we play all 12 months. It is an unbelievable take a look at. It is actually a serious championship golf course. You get punished should you hit dangerous pictures and get rewarded should you hit good pictures, and that is precisely how golf needs to be.”
4 gamers competed for the ultimate spot in a sudden-death playoff that started on the tenth gap. Hae Ran Ryu was eradicated on the primary further gap, and Jutanugarn knocked out Brooke Henderson and Yuka Saso on the twelfth gap with an 18-foot birdie putt.
