Rolex Rankings No. 2 Lydia Ko has more records and milestones on the line after taking the 54-hole lead at the Fubon LPGA Taiwan Championship. With a third-round 5-under 67, Ko holds a four-shot lead and sits atop the leaderboard at 13-under par. First and second round leader Eun Hee Ji (72) sits in solo second while England’s Charley Hull (71) is solo third and five shots back. Ko’s round of 67 was the second lowest of the day, only outdone by Brittany Lang’s 66.
The 18-year old had an up-and-down front nine and went out in even-par and had three birdies, a bogey and a double bogey on the par-4, 5th hole. But a bogey-free back nine with five birdies pushed Ko out in front.
“I chipped in on 11 and I think that gave me some momentum,” said Ko. “I was playing good at the first couple of holes, made a double and then made a bogey. I think I kind of got a little frustrated about that. But after that chip-in, I kind of loosened up and tried to smile a little bit more. The putts started dropping.”
This week will mark the eighth time in her career that Ko has lead or co-lead heading into Sunday’s final round. Three of her nine career victories have come when sleeping on the 54-hole lead. Just last week in Korea she held a share of the lead with 18 holes to play but closed with a 72 and finished in a tie for fourth.
Ko said a four-shot cushion is better than none but doesn’t consider the job done at all just yet.
“You know, on this course, anything can happen,” said Ko. “There’s some large numbers out there. I made a double myself. I nearly made two doubles out there. But also, if you’re putting good and you’re striking the ball good, you can shoot a couple low ones, too. Especially with how packed it is up top, and you know so many top players there, it’s hard to say, hey, I’ve got the trophy today. I’ve still got to play a lot of good golf tomorrow and there’s still 18 holes to go.”
19-year old Charley Hull will be in the final group again with Ko and Eun-Hee Ji and said it simply when asked what it would take to catch her teenage counterpart.
“Keep making birdies,” said Hull.
If Ko is able to close out on Sunday, she’ll also become the youngest player in LPGA Tour history to reach 10 career victories, a record currently held by Nancy Lopez at 22 years, 2 months, 5 days. Ko will be 18 years, 6 months, and 1 days tomorrow. She would move into a tie for 47th on the all-time wins list with Paula Creamer.
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