Lauren Coughlin still leads at the Aramco Championship but Nelly Korda closed the gap on Saturday to just two shots as hilly Shadow Creek lived up to its reputation as a course on which pars are good scores.
Korda birdied her final two holes to shoot a 69 to move to five under par and second place, while Coughlin shot a one-over 73 and her seven-under score for the tournament is just one of five in red figures on the leaderboard.
Nanna Koerstz Madsen and Miyu Yamashita are both three-under par, and Leona Maguire is one under.
“Shadow definitely showed its colours the last couple days,” Korda said. “It’s been playing brutally hard, especially the back nine.”
Nelly Korda hugs Hyo Joo Kim after the latter’s victory at the Founders Cup
Hyo Joo Kim almost certainly will not extend her LPGA Tour winning streak to three after she opened the round with two bogeys and a double-bogey over the first three holes. She dropped from a tie for second all the way down to a tie for 17th at four over after a 79.
The Aramco Championship is co-sanctioned with the Ladies European Tour with a total purse this week of $4m, which has attracted the top 20 players in the world.
This year is beginning to resemble the magical 2024 season for Korda, who won seven times en route to becoming player of the year.
After a frustrating campaign last year where she failed to record a victory, through three tournaments this year, Korda already has a victory as well as two second-place finishes.
“I’m just playing really good golf,” said world No 2 Korda. “I have always worked really, really hard, but I’m proud of the work that I’ve put in the past few weeks when I had off and didn’t go to Asia when the tour was there. I just feel refreshed, happy. I’m excited to compete.
“Last year was just a weird year where stuff was just not going my way by like centimetres. That wears on you, and that’s why I like taking like longer breaks.”
Lauren Coughlin holds a two-shot lead at the Aramco Championship
Coughlin last won in 2024, finishing first in Canada and Scotland. She almost won at Shadow Creek last year, too, when it was a match play event. Coughlin made it to the final pairing before losing to Madelene Sagstrom.
Her strong performance again this week shows Coughlin knows how to work her way around the course much better than most of her competitors.
“There are a few holes that you can make birdies, like the par fives, 11, 12,” Coughlin said. “So trying to take advantage when you can and just holding on for dear life on the other holes.”
Watch the final round of the Aramco Championship from 11pm on Sunday live on Sky Sports Golf. Get Sky Sports or stream with no contract.
