World number two Nelly Korda fired a 70 in the third round of the LPGA Chevron Championship on Saturday to maintain her lead at 16 under par, but her advantage was trimmed to five shots as she equaled the tournament's 54-hole scoring record.
Korda, who opened with consecutive rounds of 65, started strongly with four birdies on the front nine at Houston's Memorial Park. However, she failed to score another birdie on the back nine, citing a lack of precision on the greens. "The front nine was great," Korda said. "Just got to reset and hopefully it goes my way tomorrow."
Thailand's Patty Tavatanakit carded a 69 to close the gap to five strokes heading into Sunday's final round. Despite a bogey on the 13th—her first of the tournament—Tavatanakit sits at 11 under par.
France's Pauline Bouchard and China's Yin Ruoning are tied for third at 10 under, with Yin posting a bogey-free 66, the joint-best round of the day.
Korda's 54-hole total of 200 matches the record set by Jennifer Kupcho in 2022, who went on to win by two strokes. A victory on Sunday would propel Korda to world number one after current top-ranked Jeeno Thitikul missed the cut.