Teen star Lydia Ko birdied five straight holes on the back nine to take a one-stroke lead after the third round of the season-opening LPGA Tour’s Coates Golf Championship on Friday.
The 17-year-old from New Zealand is a shot ahead of rookie Jang Ha-na and could become the youngest male or female player ever to reach No. 1 in the world rankings with a victory.
“I have been putting good the last few days. I just have to stay in that mood,” Ko said.
Ko, who finished 54 holes at 14-under-par 202, has five career LPGA Tour wins, with three of those from last year.
Jang, the second-round leader, posted a one-under 71 at Golden Ocala Golf course in Florida and is alone in second place at 13-under.
Choi Na-yeon, another South Korean, carded a six-under-par 66 to jump into third place at 12-under-par 204.
American Stacy Lewis shot two-under-par 70 and the world No. 3 is alone in fourth at 10-under-par 206.
Amy Yang equaled Ko’s 65 and jumped into a share of fifth at nine-under. Yang was joined there by Jessica Korda (69) and Austin Ernst (70).
Ko had a strong front nine with four birdies. However, she began the back nine with back-to-back bogeys before catching fire and then surging to five straight birdies. She closed with two pars.
“I was kind of shocked,” Ko said of the bogeys. “But it got me fired up. I jammed my putter in the bag and said, ‘You’ve got to start working again,’ and I made good birdies on 12 to 16.”
Ko said she planned to manage her game in yesterday’s final round and not think about what others are doing.
“There are so many great players one to four shots back, and you just never know what’s going to happen,” she said. “I’m just going to concentrate on my game, just stay really positive, and if somebody else shoots a much better score than I do, I can’t really do much about it.”
Asked about the possibility of becoming the youngest No. 1, Ko said: “It would be great and it would be a huge honor to be in that position, but we’ve still got another long 18 holes to go and you just never know what’s going to happen in those holes.”
Taiwan’s Hsu Wei-ling finished the third round with a score of 72, tied for 17th place overall with a three-under-par 213. Candie Kung finished with a 71, tied for two-over-par 218 48th place with compatriot Lee Min, who finished the third round with 72.
Additional reporting by staff writer
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