Lydia Ko birdies final hole to reach 21 under at LPGA LOTTE; leads Nelly Korda by one

Lydia Ko’s birdie on the 18th hole on Friday put her one shot ahead of Nelly Korda entering the final round of the LPGA LOTTE Championship.

Nelly Korda went deep in the third round of the LPGA LOTTE Championship on Friday, matching Lydia Ko’s round of 9-under 63 a day before, but Korda still couldn’t wrestle the lead away from Ko.

Entering the final round at Kapolei Golf Club on Oahu, Hawaii, Ko is 21 under and has a one-shot lead. She birdied the 18th hole for that slim edge on Korda.

Scores were low across the board, and Korda led the way with a 9-under 63 that even included a bogey at the par-4 10th. Farther down the leaderboard, Wei-Ling Hsu posted the same number, climbing from 52nd all the way to a tie for ninth. Hsu eagled the par-5 17th but bogeyed the last.

As for Ko, who two weeks ago posted the lowest final-round score in LPGA major championship history, a 10-under 62, at the ANA Inspiration, a third-round 65 was enough to keep her ahead of her pursuers.

Ko bogeyed the 11th hole in the first round, but has not made a bogey since.

Second-round leader Yuka Saso, a 19-year-old playing this week on a sponsor exemption, opened with back-to-back rounds of 64 but dropped to third on Friday with a 71 that included four bogeys on her front nine. She is 17 under for the tournament.

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