Australia’s Karis Davidson remains in the hunt heading into the final round of the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship, but will need to chase down a five-shot deficit after South Korea’s Haeran Ryu surged into the lead at Hazeltine National Golf Club.
Unable to recapture the brilliance of her opening-round 65, Davidson mixed four birdies with three bogeys in a 1-under 71 to move to 6-under-par, tied for eighth, improving on her second-round 74.
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Ryu produced the round of the day with a 4-under 68 to reach 11-under, taking a one-shot lead over Canada’s Brooke Henderson (69). Overnight leader Ina Yoon slipped back to third at 9-under after a 3-over 75.
World No.1 Nelly Korda, chasing a historic third straight major championship after victories at the Chevron Championship and US Women’s Open, posted a 1-under 71 to sit tied fourth at 7-under alongside Alison Lee, one shot ahead of Davidson.
New Zealander Lydia Ko continued her recovery from an opening-round 76, backing up Friday’s 69 with another 69 to climb to 2-under in a tie for 25th.
Grace Kim sits one shot further back in tied 32nd after a third-round 72, while Robyn Choi is even-par following a 73.
It has been a season of career-bests for Davidson, whose T22 at the US Women’s Open three weeks ago stands as her best major result, as she looks to better that mark at a tournament where she also recorded a career-low LPGA round on Thursday.
Davidson avoided a repeat of Friday’s opening-hole double-bogey, beginning with two pars before rolling in a lengthy birdie putt at the par-5 third – the first birdie of her playing group, which included Korda and China’s Weiwei Zhang.
The Queenslander added another birdie at the sixth after converting a testing downhill putt before parring her way to the turn in 2-under, climbing to 7-under for the tournament.
Her composed bogey-free front nine contrasted with a rollercoaster back nine.
Her first bogey came at the 11th, but she responded immediately with a birdie at the 12th before another dropped shot at the 13th.
A tap-in birdie at the par-5 15th lifted her back to 7-under, but a closing bogey at the 18th saw her finish at 6-under, five shots behind the leader entering Sunday.
Davidson has one more day to chase a maiden LPGA Tour victory and first major title, while aiming to become the fifth Australian to win the championship.
She will again play alongside world No.1 Nelly Korda in Sunday’s final round, with Auston Kim completing the group.
Round 3 Australasian scores
T8 Karis Davidson 65-74-71
T25 Lydia Ko (NZ) 76-69-69
T32 Grace Kim 72-71-73
T41 Robyn Choi 76-69-73
Round 4 tee-times AEST
10:24pm Grace Kim
10:35pm Lydia Ko (NZ)
10:35pm Robyn Choi
12:03am Karis Davidson
