The German also was in position to win the Constellation Senior Players Championship for the third straight year, sitting at 2-under 208 for a three-stroke lead over Jay Don Blake with a round left. 13 through 15 and vaulted up the leaderboard.
Advertisement
Daniel Berger shot a 1-under 69 in hot and sticky conditions at the FedEx St. Jude Classic at Memphis, giving him a three-stroke lead over Phil Mickelson, Steve Stricker and D.A. Points. Both her husband, Gi Hyeob Nam, and LPGA Tour commissioner Michael Whan brought her a bouquet of flowers. Ko had a pair of birdies to go with two bogeys in an even round of 71.
In early action, a few key storylines emerged.
Inbee Park completed the final requirement for the LPGA Hall of Fame on Thursday, playing the first round of the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship. At 27, she became the youngest player to accomplish the feat.
The powerful player didn’t need a driver this week, and still often outhit the competition off the tee with her 2-iron and 3-wood, which she uses to send balls 270 yards.
Following a disappointing five-over showing Thursday, Matthew rebounded and shot four under during a round that included five birdies. Ariya Jutanugarn, the victor of her past three tournaments, shot a 68, leaving her even par along with Amy Yang (66), Chella Choi (69) and Atlantic City victor Anna Nordqvist (69).
Finally, 26-year-old Michelle Wie continued to sputter a day after shooting seven over.
Her first full season on the Tour has been a success so far, with nine top-10 finishes and a No. 4 world ranking.
The missed cut marks another low point in a season of many for the world No. 2. Will Brooke Henderson increase her lead? “I just have to focus on my game”.
“I pulled my shot a little bit, caught the left apron and following right into the hole. And it obviously wasn’t easy to get there”, Park said.
“I thought she was bored because she was sitting down”, Korda said.
All three will play in the final group today. And I thought I was really ready, but I just wasn’t. “But when I’m out there I’m not thinking so much about records and what could happen”. “But I was able to scramble, get up-and-down a couple of times that really saved my round and then finished really strong”.
Matthew, meanwhile, sounded pleased with her performance after a discouraging opening round put her in a precarious position. “But today I was hitting it more solid and also putt more solid”. “But apart from that, I played well”.
“I was quite nervous this morning”.
The same was true for Ko. “Those are the three big things I said we needed for our majors and they killed it”.
Advertisement
It’s hard to say (how the week will unfold), but 4 under is definitely a good start.”Henderson was the only player to reach 4 under on Thursday”.
