Nelly Korda shot 71 to reach 7 under through 54 holes at the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship, tied for sixth and four shots behind leader Haeran Ryu, setting up a high-stakes Sunday after a season-long pattern of leading into majors’ finales.
By the time Saturday ended at Hazeltine, Nelly Korda’s usual major script looked oddly out of sync. She arrived at the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship with a résumé built on timing—four major titles. each with her carrying at least a share of the lead into the final round. But after a 71 on Saturday. she was tied for sixth and trailing leader Haeran Ryu by four shots as the tournament heads into Sunday. June 27.
Korda reached 7 under through 54 holes. Ryu, 25, posted a 68 at Hazeltine to seize control at 11 under.
The gap matters because it changes what Korda has to do. Through two rounds, her work has already been enough to keep her in contention. On Sunday, it would not be enough to protect a lead—she would need to win from behind to claim her fifth major.
Her path to this point is familiar, even if the position is not. Korda has taken a share of the lead through 54 holes at the 2021 Women’s PGA. at the Chevron Championship and at this year’s U.S. Women’s Open before eventually pulling away in those events. She has never started a major’s final round with as much to make up and still won—so if this week ends the way she wants. it would come with a first.
She also has a bigger storyline hanging over the final round. A victory on Sunday would make her one of three women ever to capture the first three majors of a season. joining Inbee Park in 2013 and Babe Zaharias in 1950. It would also help her reach the 27 points required for the LPGA Hall of Fame and put her in a rare category as the first American to play her way in since Juli Inkster in 1999.
Saturday’s round offered a snapshot of why she’s still dangerous even when the lead isn’t hers. She powered a 357-yard drive on the 18th—described as the longest tee shot anyone hit on the hole all week—then watched a 25-foot birdie putt slide past the hole. She tapped in for par.
Ryu, meanwhile, is chasing a different kind of history. At 25, she is going for her first major title. She has three LPGA Tour wins and two fifth-place finishes in 2024.
The leaderboard after 54 holes shows how packed the chase is just behind the top. Haeran Ryu is at -11, with Brooke M. Henderson at -10, Ina Yoon at -9. Dewi Weber and A. Lim Kim sit at -8, while Korda and Alison Lee are tied at -7. Karis Davidson. Auston Kim. and Dongeun Lee are at -6. and the standings remain tight enough that a single swing can reorder everything.
Korda’s hole-by-hole results on Saturday were: No. 1 par, No. 2 par, No. 3 bogey, No. 4 par, No. 5 par, No. 6 birdie, No. 7 par, No. 8 par, No. 9 par, No. 10 par, No. 11 birdie, No. 12 par, No. 13 birdie, No. 14 par, No. 15 par, No. 16 par, No. 17 bogey, and No. 18 par.
Nelly Korda Haeran Ryu KPMG Women's PGA Championship Hazeltine LPGA women’s golf leaderboard majors LPGA Hall of Fame