SAMMAMISH – For the first time in her career, Lydia Ko will sleep on the 54-hole lead in a major championship.
Saturday afternoon, the world No.1 took the outright lead at the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship with a one-under par, 70 to lead by one at two-under par. Ko is chasing her third consecutive major championship victory, having won the 2015 Evian Championship and 2016 ANA Inspiration. With a win on Sunday, Ko would become the first to win three consecutive majors since Inbee Park in 2013. The 19-year-old has eight times slept on the 54-hole lead, half of those times Ko has gone on to win, but Ko came from behind to win both of her major titles.
"You know, I'm happy with my position. I didn't really know how it finished up, because I didn't get to see what the last group finished up. But obviously I've got to be happy with it. And I've just got to stay positive," Ko told the media. "It seems like the girls, they're playing really well, and they're playing consistent. I've just got to focus on my game. And I can't control what the other girls are doing. So just try my best out there. We've still got a long 18 holes to go. You just never know what's going to happen until the winner's putt drops on the last hole."
Click here to watch Ko's post-round press conference.
Click here to watch Ko's third round highlights.
Ko holds a narrow one-stroke lead ahead of Brittany Lincicome and Gerina Piller at one-under par. Lincicome and Piller both traded spots with Ko atop the leaderboard throughout the third round before finishing with rounds of Even par. Ko, Lincicome and Piller are the only players under par for the week.
Lincicome is a two-time major champion of the ANA Inspiration and comfortable with making a charge on Sunday. Both Lincicome’s victories came from behind with her trailing by as many as four strokes to start the final round.
"It's easier to come from behind than be the leader. I feel like I'm in a great spot," Lincicome told the media. "Hopefully I just keep driving the ball l have been doing all week. My game feels really, really good. It felt pretty good actually all year, just kind of a couple of days on the weekends hasn't gone my way. So I feel like I'm playing well. Hopefully tomorrow I can just shoot another good score."
Click here to watch Lincicome's post-round press conference.
Click here to watch Lincicome's third round highlights.
The 2016 season has been a good one for Piller, who has grown in confidence this season due in large part to her performance in the 2015 Solheim Cup in helping the team clinch the Cup and the advice she’s received from mentor Nancy Lopez. With that newfound confidence, Piller has posted seven top-10 finishes so far in 2016 and a win on Sunday would be both her first major title and first win on the LPGA Tour. Her best major finish came earlier this season in a share of sixth at the ANA Inspiration. And although Piller says she hasn't had her best game this week at Sahalee, she still finds herself just one-stroke back of the lead in a major championship.
"You know, now I'm more comfortable. I'm more comfortable seeing my name up there," Piller told the media. "I'm more comfortable just knowing that I don't have to hit it perfect. If I miss a green I've gotten up and down a million times. And I've made long putts for par. I've made long putts for birdie. I've made a par from missing a fairway. So that's very comforting."
Click here to watch Piller's post-round press conference.
Click here to watch Piller's third round highlights.
First round leader and second round co-leader Brooke Henderson struggled on day three, dropping three shots in her first five holes to fall out of the lead. The Canadian posted a two-over par, 73 for the second consecutive day to drop to Even par for the championship.
Click to watch Brooke Henderson's third round highlights
When it comes to majors, Amy Yang comes to play. The Korean has 12 top-10 finishes in majors, including two at the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship. She’s twice finished runner up at the U.S. Women’s Open, most recently last season where she was edged out by champion In Gee Chun on Sunday. Yang made the biggest move on moving day at Sahalee following her opening rounds of 74 – 73 with a five-under par, 66 for the low round of the Tournament. Saturday, she climbed from a share of 35th to T-4 to sit Even par, two-strokes back of the lead heading into the final round.
“I had a tough time hitting fairways the last two rounds, especially tight course like this, you miss fairway, hard to save par,” Yang told the media. “But today I was hitting it more solid and also putt more solid. I had a great day> it’s so important to hit fairways.”
Yang is a two-time winner on the LPGA Tour who recorded a record nine consecutive birdies during the final round of the 2015 LPGA KEB-HanaBank Championship. She has four top-three finishes so far in 2016.
Click here to watch Yang's third round highlights.
Click here for scores from the third round of the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship.
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