South Korea’s Haeran Ryu continued her hot streak Saturday to surge into the lead of the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship at Hazeltine National Golf Club in Chaska, Minn.
Ryu followed her 8-under-par 64 Friday with birdies on two of her first five holes and an eagle on the par-5 seventh to make her push. She balanced a birdie on No. 9 with her only bogey on No. 10 to finish 4-under 68 and capture the lead.
Ryu sits at 11 under through 54 holes, which gives her a 1-shot edge over Canada’s Brooke M. Henderson going into the final round.
“Yeah, today my front nine, it was amazing because I got an eagle and three birdies,” Ryu said. “I started the back nine, it was more windy and a lot of tough shots and tough putts, but I just made one bogey today, so it was, I think, good for me for tomorrow, and tomorrow I just want to have more confidence and more calm.”
Ryu’s quest to earn her fourth career win and first of the season was aided considerably by fellow South Korean Ina Yoon and her rough day.
The leader through the first two rounds and seeking her first career win, Yoon squandered her five-shot lead as she struggled through a six-bogey day to finish 3-over 75. That dropped the 23-year-old into third place, two shots off the pace.
“I had a really long day, actually, especially the front nine,” Yoon said. “I was just nervous a lot. I missed short putts. Yeah, that’s what I expected. I’m kind of learning still.”
Nelly Korda, aiming to become the third woman to win the first three majors of the season after her victories at the Chevron Championship and U.S. Women’s Open, made headway on the lead due to Yoon’s tumble, but she still has work to do to catch Ryu.
Korda is in a tie for sixth at 7 under after carding a 1-under 71. The world No. 1 balanced three birdies against two bogeys to move within four shots of the lead, two closer than where she started the day.
Henderson moved into much better position than Korda with another steady round. Seeking her first major victory since 2022, Henderson followed a 69 and a 68 with Saturday’s 69 that featured four birdies against a single bogey.
“I’m really happy with how the round went today. Nice to get it under par and climb the leaderboard a little bit,” Henderson said. “I’ve been working really hard on myself and also my game coming into this week, so I feel like it’s nice to see it pay off a bit.”
Three strokes back of the leader are the Netherlands’ Dewi Weber (68) and South Korea’s A Lim Kim (71).
Alison Lee fired a 68 to pull into a share of sixth place with Korda.
Rounding out the top 10 are Auston Kim (69), Australia’s Karis Davidson (71) and South Korea’s Dongeun Lee (72), all in a tie for eighth at 6 under.
–Field Level Media
