On another windy day in Daly City, the Japanese golfer shot a 1-under-par 71 to retain her three-stroke lead in the Swinging Skirts LPGA Classic at Lake Merced Golf Club.
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World #1 Lydia Ko took a step back on Saturday after her round of 73 one over par dropped her to four under par and a tie for sixth.
Lee-Anne Pace, meanwhile, moved firmly into contention ahead of the final day, equalling her round of 69 from Saturday to move tied second with Choi. Nomura, Pace and Choi were the only players who started the day in the top-10 to card rounds under par.
Nomura, looking for her second career win on the tour after winning her first in February in Australia, traded a birdie and bogey on Nos.
Australian teenager Minjee Lee, coming off a victory at the LOTTE Championship in Hawaii on Sunday, continued her strong form when she surged into a share of second with a bogey-free 65.
“I knew with the wind getting up, it would be tough”, Ko said after a one-under-par 71. It was pretty average. I felt like chipping, short game-wise, it was good, but I wasn’t making the putts that needed to go in for birdie or those crucial par saves, so I think that was the difference from today to yesterday. “I just stayed patient and took advantage of the opportunities I had”.
Obviously, the conditions are going to be the same tomorrow probably, a little cooler, I think, Pace said. “So I feel very fortunate with that, and hopefully (Sunday) a few more putts will fall”. “But just the same thing”. “The greens were so firm and a lot of holes have front pins so it’s hard to stop the ball around the pin”.
“It was tough”, Choi said.
So Yeon Ryu was 5 under along with Brooke Henderson, Catriona Matthew and Gerina Piller.
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“I came off a really great win last week, so I should have a lot of confidence and momentum coming into this week too”, Lee said. “Also the wind direction just keep changing, so it was really hard to judge where is the wind coming from”.
