PLAYING FROM BEHIND
While Ariya Jutanugarn, 23, will be pushing for her third major championship on Sunday, she will be doing so from an unfamiliar position. During the two majors she won — the 2016 AIG Women's British Open and the 2018 U.S. Women’s Open — she led after 54 three rounds.
MAJOR CHAMPIONSHIP CHALLENGE
While Hannah Green remains in search of her initial victory on the LPGA Tour, she is being pursued by four major champions, all of whom are within six shots of the lead: Ariya Jutanugarn (one shot back), Sung Hyun Park (five back), Inbee Park (six back) and Danielle Kang (six back).
SISTER ACT
Ariya (solo second) and Moriya (T-12) Jutanugarn enter Sunday in position to both finish inside the top 10 of the same major championship for the second time. They previously accomplished this at the 2018 ANA Inspiration, as Ariya and Moriya finished T-4 and T-6, respectively. The Korda sisters Jessica and Nelly, have yet to complete this dual top-10 feat in a major.
FOUR SCORE
Only four players have registered three sub-par rounds through 54 holes at Hazeltine (par 72): Hannah Green (68-69-70), Ariya Jutanugarn (70-70-68), Defending Champion Sung Hyun Park (70-71-71) and Angel Yin (71-71-71).
SEI YOUNG GOES LOW, MOVES HIGH
Sei Young Kim carded a third-round, 5-under 67 to move 21 spots up the leaderboard into a tie for fifth (211). Her 67 matches Jin Young Ko (second round) for the lowest round in this year’s KPMG Women’s PGA Championship. Kim owns two top-four finishes in her KPMG Women's PGA Championship career (2015: 2nd; 2017: T-4).
PAST CHAMPS CHARGING
Three-time KPMG Women’s PGA champion Inbee Park (2013-’15) and 2017 winner Danielle Kang each made their move on Saturday, posting a pair of 4-under 68s to climb into the top 10. Park and Kang, both tied for seventh, trail the leader, Hannah Green, by six shots.
REACHABLE 16
The par-4 16th at Hazeltine played 385 yards the first two days and proved to be one of the more challenging holes on the course (R1: third toughest; R2: sixth toughest). The tees were moved up 140 yards on Saturday for a total of 245 yards and played as the third easiest hole. In fact, the total number of birdies on Saturday (29) matched the two-day total on Thursday (13) and Friday (16).
SATURDAY SCORING OPPORTUNTIES APLENTY
Hazeltine National played a bit more generous on Saturday than the first two rounds. Compared to just five players posting rounds in the 60s on Thursday and Friday combined, Saturday witnessed a total of 10 below-70 scores.
CHANGE IN PLANS
Due to anticipated bad weather overnight and into the early morning, final-round starting times (Sunday, June 23rd) will be in groups of 3 from tee #1 and tee #10 from 9:12 a.m. to 11:35 a.m.
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