Lydia Ko carries three-stroke lead into final round of Kia Classic

Lydia Ko and caddue at the LPGA Kia Classic.

FROM GOLFWEEK.COM

By Beth Ann Nichols

Carlsbad, California – The good news for Brittany Lang, Jenny Shin and Sung Hyun Park: They’re tied for second at the LPGA Kia Classic.
The trio – who have one LPGA title between them – trail World No. 1 Lydia Ko by three strokes heading into the final round.
“That’s the problem,” said Lang.
Tough to chase down a player who makes so few mistakes. Ko hit 14 fairways and 16 greens in her third-round 67 and sits at 14-under 202 - 12 strokes ahead of Catriona Matthew who had a 71 for 214 and is T36)
The 18-year-old Ko won her national open in Christchurch, New Zealand, but has yet to snag an LPGA title in 2016. Not that anyone is concerned.
“She's something else,” said Lang.
While Shin and Lang are established tour players, Park is unknown to most American golf fans. The long-hitting South Korean is playing a three-week stretch on the LPGA this spring, using sponsor exemptions in both Phoenix and Carlsbad. She earned an invitation to next week’s ANA Inspiration by virtue of her top-30 ranking. Park, currently ranked No. 28 in the world, is a four-time winner on the Korean LPGA and tops the money list.
The Kia is Park’s third LPGA start. She tied for second last year at the KEB HanaBank Classic in Korea and tied for 13th last week at the JTBC Founders Cup.
Veteran caddie Jeff King met Park last Monday in Phoenix. While Park’s English skills make it difficult to know too much about his interim boss, King is impressed with her length, fearlessness and distance control.
“I’ll draw a picture here and there,” he said of communicating on the course. “She understands golf talk.”
Lurking four strokes back is No. 2 Inbee Park, who seems to be finding her groove after a back injury. This tournament is a warm-up for Inbee speciality: major madness.
No one knows how to peak for the big ones like Inbee, a seven-time major champion and future LPGA Hall of Fame inductee.
But back to this week, where all eyes will be on Ko this Easter Sunday. She’s comfortable with the spotlight, having already won 10 times in her young LPGA career. Twice Ko has finished runner-up in 2016, at the Founders Cup and Australian Women’s Open. She placed third at the Coates Golf Championship.
Victory is imminent.
“I’m really proud with the way I played today,” Ko said.
It will take a massive effort to stop her now.

Minjee Lee never made an ace. Never made an albatross. She crossed both of her list with one swing of a 5-wood on the par-4 16th  at the LPGA Kia Classic. Lee, 19, posted only the second hole-in-one on a par 4 in tour history. The first came in January at the season-opening Pure Silk Bahamas LPGA Classic. Ha Na Jang bowed down and kissed the ground in dramatic fashion when she holed out from 218 yards on the par-4 eighth hole at the Ocean Golf Club.
Lee, an Aussie in her second year on tour, had a more subdued celebration.

“I didn’t see it go in,” said Lee, who played alongside Morgan Pressel.
“(Morgan) was just like ‘Oh!’ and I was like ‘Yay!’ ”
Lee hit 5-wood from 234 yards right to left downwind. The ball landed short of the green and bounded up toward the hole as if on a string, rattling off the flagstick before dropping in the cup.
She posted a 2-under 70 in the third round and is currently tied for 18th at 5-under 211.
“It’s pretty cool,” said Lee, winner of last year’s Kingsmill Championship. “I can’t put it into words.”
THIRD-ROUND SCOREBOARD
Par 216 (3x72)

1	Lydia Ko	68	67	67					202
T2	Brittany Lang	67	68	70					205
T2	Jenny Shin	69	65	7 1					205
T2	Sung Hyun Park	71	66	68					205
5	Inbee Park	67	69	70					206
6	Jessica Korda	70	67	70					207
T7	M.J. Hur	68	71	69					208
T7	Haru Nomura	70	69	69					208
T7	Na Yeon Choi	70	69	69					208
T7	Suzann Pettersen	70	72	66					208
T11	Jodi Ewart Shadoff	67	71	71					209
T11	Hyo-Joo Kim	70	66	73					209
T11	Danielle Kang	73	70	66					209
T11	Candie Kung	75	69	65					209
T15	Ai Miyazato	67	72	71					210
T15	Paula Creamer	72	72	66					210
T15	Shanshan Feng	71	69	70					210
T18	Juli Inkster	72	68	71					211
T18	Anna Nordqvist	72	68	71					211
T18	Carlota Ciganda	70	71	70					211
T18	Minjee Lee	69	72	70					211
T18	Ha Na Jang	71	72	68					211
T18	Gerina Piller	72	70	69					211
T18	Cydney Clanton	75	68	68					211
T25	Rachel Rohanna	73	66	73					212
T25	Ilhee Lee	70	71	71					212
T25	Gaby Lopez	71	69	72					212
T25	Sandra Gal	71	70	71					212
T25	Felicity Johnson	69	75	68					212
T30	Holly Clyburn	72	68	73					213
T30	Q Baek	70	72	71					213
T30	Wei-Ling Hsu	71	70	72					213
T30	Eun-Hee Ji	70	73	70					213
T30	Stacy Lewis	72	71	70					213
T30	Brooke Henderson	73	70	70					213
T36	Mirim Lee	69	73	72					214
T36	Mo Martin	73	70	71					214
T36	Catriona Matthew	69	74	71					214
T36	Jing Yan	73	71	70					214
T40	Jane Park	68	76	71					215
T40	Morgan Pressel	73	69	73					215
T40	Caroline Masson	72	72	71					215
T40	Ryann O'Toole	72	72	71					215
T40	Pernilla Lindberg	73	72	70					215
T40	Lee-Anne Pace	72	73	70					215
T40	Lexi Thompson	77	68	70					215
T47	Karrie Webb	73	70	73					216
T47	I.K. Kim	75	69	72					216
T47	Belen Mozo	71	74	71					216
T47	Laetitia Beck	72	73	71					216
T47	Tiffany Joh	73	72	71					216
T47	Jacqui Concolino	75	70	71					216
T47	Lizette Salas	72	74	70					216
T47	Sei-Young Kim	72	74	70					216
T47	Pornanong Phatlum	73	73	70					216
T47	Mi Hyang Lee	74	72	70					216
T47	Angela Stanford	74	72	70					216
T58	Karine Icher	71	74	72					217
T58	Jennifer Johnson	72	73	72					217
T58	Meena Lee	73	72	72					217
T58	Brittany Lincicome	72	73	72					217
T58	Kim Kaufman	74	72	71					217
T58	Michelle Wie	70	76	71					217
T58	Se Ri Pak	76	70	71					217
T65	Charley Hull	72	71	75					218
T65	Sakura Yokomine	71	72	75					218
T65	Christina Kim	73	70	75					218
T65	Mariajo Uribe	75	68	75					218
T65	Sarah Jane Smith	73	73	72					218
T65	Sun Young Yoo	70	74	74					218
T71	Giulia Molinaro	75	69	75					219
T71	Ariya Jutanugarn	78	68	73					219
T71	Giulia Sergas	70	76	73					219
T74	Annie Park	69	75	76					220
T74	Jaye Marie Green	71	75	74					220
T74	Azahara Munoz	73	72	75					220
T74	Austin Ernst	74	72	74					220
T74	Kelly Shon	74	72	74					220
T74	Benyapa Niphatsophon	78	68	74					220
80	Dori Carter	73	72	78					223
81	Yani Tseng	74	72	78