Nelly Korda maintains lead at Tokyo Olympics, Brooke Henderson 10 shots back of medal position

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This article was published 06/08/2021 (1544 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

It wasn’t the birdie barrage like the day prior for Nelly Korda, but another under-par score from the top golfer in the world was enough to keep the lead at the women’s Olympic golf competition heading into the final round.

Korda backed up her 9-under 62 in the second round with a 2-under 69 and leads by three over India’s Aditi Ashok.

The 23-year-old admitted it was a bit of a “sloppy” effort at Kasumigaseki Country Club, but was proud of the way she battled as she hopes to join countryman Xander Schauffele as golden golfers.

“I feel like that’s kind of the goal going into every round is to play the best I possibly can and maybe get a comfortable lead. But that’s the thing about golf, once you get a little too comfortable it humbles you when you start making mistakes and you get ahead of yourself,” said Korda. “I mean obviously no one’s ever going to complain about a bigger lead going into a final round, but I’m happy with where I’m at.”

Korda ended her day making 10-straight pars after starting it making birdies in three of her first six holes. She has had a season-for-the-books already on the LPGA Tour, with three victories — including her first major championship.

Despite being on the cusp of a gold medal — and with the other big events still to come this year, including another major — Korda is doing her best to stay in the moment.

“I try to remind myself, even though I think about it, I quickly shake my head and I’m like, ‘No, no, it’s not there yet, we’re not there, we still have a lot, a long way to go,’ ” said Korda.

Four golfers sit at 10-under through 54 holes and are all tied in the bronze-medal position. The men’s golf competition saw seven competitors compete in a playoff that last for four holes to determine the third-place winner.

That foursome is led by the bronze medallist from the 2016 Games in Rio, Lydia Ko of New Zealand. Australian Hannah Green, Denmark’s Emily Kristine Pedersen, and Japan’s Mone Inami are also in the mix. Inami has never won on the LPGA Tour, but is trying to win a medal in her home country.

Ko said even though she is five shots back of Korda’s lead, she’s going into the final round with a never-say-die attitude. She alluded to how Rory Sabbatini shot a 10-under 61 in the final round of the men’s competition to win the silver.

“That’s the crazy thing about golf that you never know until that last putt drops on the last hole,” said Ko. “I just think that you can never give up, I think it doesn’t matter how many shots back you are.”

Canada’s Brooke Henderson will be taking that same attitude into the final round.

The pre-event medal favourite and one of the faces of Team Canada, is at even par and tied for 40th through 54 holes. She’s 15 shots back of Korda, 10 shots back of a medal position.

Fellow Canadian, Alena Sharp of Hamilton, is at 1-over after a 2-under third round. Sharp is 44th through three rounds, but has improved in each round in Japan, notching scores of 74-71-69.

Henderson made a birdie on the par-4 11th — her second hole of the day, after starting on the back nine — but quickly gave it back with bogeys on three of her next five holes. She birdied holes 5, 6, and 8 but ended her day with another bogey on the par-4 ninth.

The native of Smiths Falls, Ont., admitted she was struggling with usually very solid ball striking but felt like she made “lemonade out of lemons” at some points during the third round.

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“It’s just like nice that I kind of have that courage and that grind in me because it’s tough to keep going when you’re that far down on the leaderboard,” said Henderson. “But just plugging away and hopefully I can make some more birdies tomorrow.”

There was much drama about whether there would even be a “tomorrow” in the women’s golf competition, as the International Golf Federation was preparing to cut the event to just 54 holes — with tropical storms expected to hammer the region this weekend and extreme heat making it too dangerous to play more than 18 holes in a day. There’s also the long-standing tradition that no Olympic event would be played after the closing ceremony.

But the organizing committee will press on with the final round on Saturday in Japan, with tee-times set between 6:30 a.m. and 8:23 a.m. local time to try to get as much golf in before the storm.

Henderson will tee off at 7:11 a.m. local time, while Sharp is in the following group, starting at 7:23 a.m.

Adam Stanley is an Ottawa-based contributor to the Star’s Sports section and the host of golf podcast Next Round’s On Me. Follow him on Twitter: @adam_stanley