Nelly Korda Moves Into Contention At AIG Women's Open Despite Putting Problems

Nelly Korda is in contention ahead of the final round at the AIG Women's Open despite admitting her unhappiness with her putting. 

The World No.1 shot an impressive three-under 69 to move to four-under in total at a windy Walton Heath after the third round in which she impressed tee to green. Yet her round could have been even better but for several missed putts.

“Tee-to-green went really well,” Korda assessed. “Putting, I'd probably give myself a D. I started off pretty well and then on the back nine, I just kind of started making more mistakes with the short stick. But overall, I would say I moved up on moving day when conditions were tough, and I'll take that.”

Nevertheless, Korda vowed to go straight to the putting green after she holed out at the last, with the American stating: “Head to the putting green. Try to figure it out again and then just relax and take it easy today.”

Korda notched five birdies in her third round, but the highlight was an eagle on the par 5 11th when she chipped in after hitting the flag. She added: “I was lucky the flagstick was there. I hit it really good off the tee. Hit a really nice 7-wood in and that green is just so fast. It just ran through the green. 

“My chip was kind of sitting down, and I knew that it was not going to release much on the green, so I tried to be a little bit aggressive with it. I was a little too aggressive but thankfully the flagstick stopped it."

Korda’s round should give her a shot at the title on Sunday, especially if she can convert more birdie attempts after overnight leader, Ally Ewing, threatened to run clear before stumbling in the third round. Korda said: “I'm not going to get too ahead of myself. We'll see how the day finishes and we'll go forth from there.”