Nelly Korda taps in for eagle and a 67 to build a three-shot lead in Mexico

PLAYA DEL CARMEN, Mexico (AP) — Nelly Korda capped off a strong finish with a big drive and an 8-iron to 18 inches for eagle on the final hole Saturday, giving her another 5-under 67 that stretched her lead to three shots in the Riviera Maya Open at Mayakoba.

At stake for the No. 1 player in women’s golf is a chance to win back-to-back on the LPGA and become the first player since Annika Sorenstam in 2001 to start a season with six consecutive tournaments finishing no worse than runner-up.

She has played in the final group in all six of her tournaments this year.

Equally impressive is that Korda is coming off a win at major championship, going wire-to-wire in The Chevron Championship at Memorial Park, a big course for big hitters. El Camaleon is tight with trouble on both sides, and she’s navigating that just fine.

“Even though I’m coming off a major win, I took Monday off to relax. From there, I’m here to work. I’m not on vacation,” Korda said with a smile. “It’s a tough golf course. Most important for me is mentally, being relaxed. I’d be lying if I said my energy level was 100 per cent.”

Korda was at 14-under 202.

Her finish included a 9-iron into a right-to-left wind to two feet on the par-3 15th hole, where the green is exposed to the wind of the Caribbean Sea. This was her second straight bogey-free round — her only bogey of the tournament was on her 11th hole Thursday.

Three shots behind was Arpichaya Yubol of Thailand, whose birdie-birdie finish gave her a 66 and a spot in the final group.

“I never play with her before,” Yubol said. “Nelly Korda, Lydia Ko, they both kind of like my idol because they play very good. And if I have to play with her tomorrow it’s just like my dream is come true. So my life is complete right now.”

Minami Katsu had a 69 and was four shots behind.

Maude-Aimee Leblanc of Sherbrooke, Que., is in a four-way tie for 10th at 4 under. Savannah Grewal of Mississauga, Ont., is in an eight-way tie for 35th at 1 over.

Korda has not been to Mayakoba since her rookie year in 2017. She has experience on her side in one big area, however. As she goes for her third win of the year — and 18th of her career on the LPGA — the four players immediately behind her have yet to win on the LPGA.

Korda only had one big moment of stress on the difficult par-4 ninth, when she drove into the bunker and laid up well short of the green. She hit wedge to 8 feet behind the hole and made that to stay bogey-free.

But she smoked a 3-wood onto the green at the par-5 13th for a two-putt birdie, attacked the front pin on the 15th and saved her best for last with the 8-iron on the 18th.

“We just kind of try to avoid the mistakes as much as possible,” she said. “You’re going to hit a bad shot here and there and you’re going to find yourself in trouble, but trying to stay away from the holes that kind of lead to you trouble is the goal.”

Yubol had the low round of the day and she gets to play with one of her golfing idols on Sunday, her birthday. She turns 24.

“She’s young, but at the end of the day I’m just focused on myself, trying to get the job done and see how that day goes,” Korda said.

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The Associated Press