Blue Bay advances to final round in three-way tie at LPGA | LPGA

After 54 rounds at Zion Lake Blue Bay Golf Course, three players are tied for the lead at 12-under at the Blue Bay LPGA, including 20-time LPGA Tour winner Lydia Ko, 2023 LPGA Tour rookie Bailey Tardy and Rolex ranked no. 95 Sarah Schmelzel. Every player wants to add a win to their resume on Sunday in the People's Republic of China.

Ko started his round in similar fashion to the second round, following up with a birdie on the second hole and an eagle on his third hole to sit through three holes. He made two more birdies at the par-4 6th and par-5 8th to return to 31 on the front nine. After reaching even par for the tournament at 11 under, he slipped back to 10 under with a bogey on the 10th hole. He birdied his last two par-5s on the back nine for a 66. He had already won. Once this season's Hilton Grand Vacations Tournament of Champions, Coe is one point away from meeting the minimum threshold for induction into the LPGA Hall of Fame. The 26-year-old can claim her 21st win on Sunday, becoming the youngest player ever inducted into the LPGA Hall of Fame.

„After last year, I didn't know how this year was going to go. Winning the last event with Jason in 2023 was a good confidence booster because I had lost a lot in the season. I think it means a lot to win the first event in the schedule, especially at my home club. I can Played well; close at Bradenton,” said Coe, who finished second behind Nellie Korta in her second event of the season. „There's still a lot of golf to be played, and it looks like somebody at least hit a round. We all know pin positions dictate scores, so I just have to be patient and make myself look good and see where that puts me.

Americans Tardy and Schmelzel sit with Ko in the final round. Tardy also hit a six-under-par 66 when he played against Cove on Saturday. His move to the top of the leaderboard began quickly, making a birdie on his first hole of the day. She made one more birdie on the par-3 4th hole to sit two under to make the turn. On Tardi's back nine, he made two birdies on holes 11 and 13, as well as an eagle on the par-5 14th to shoot from eight-under par to 12-under par for the match in four holes. He finished with a clutch par save on the last hole to make Sunday's final group.

The second-round leader found Schmelsel once again tied for the lead after a third-round 69. Playing the last group on Saturday, he made back-to-back birdies on holes 3 and 4 before going bogey on the 5th hole. Schmelzel made his second bogey of the day and turned in a third at the par-4 10th for a nine-under total. She had another double birdie on the back nine, the 13th and 14th, and carded the par-4 17th. Both Tardy and Schmelzel are looking for their first wins on the LPGA Tour after playing on the tour for one and five years, respectively.

Ruixin Liu, from the People's Republic of China, is tied for fourth at three-under 69. Blue Bay carded six birdies and three bogeys in the third round of the LPGA, which debuted in the 2024 LPGA Tour season. She sits two lengths behind the leaders going into Sunday. He is also looking forward to making Rolex a first-time winner on Sunday.

In a tie for fifth place are 2016 Blue Bay LPGA Champion Minjee Lee and 2024 LPGA Tour rookie Savannah Grewal. Lee posted his second straight round in the 70s on Saturday, turning in a bogey-free 70 to drop one spot off the lead. As for Grewal, he broke the 18-hole scoring record with his third-round score of 64, which Lee had previously tied both this week and in his first round in 2016. Grewal had 10 birdies and one over, a double bogey. 12, it was from the wrong movement. She was able to recover and birdie three of her last four holes. It was the lowest score recorded in her second start as a professional on the LPGA Tour.

Eight players sit within five shots of the leader Koe, Darty and Schmelzel heading into Sunday at the Blue Bay LPGA. All players return to Zion Lake Bay Golf Course for the final day of play with play starting at 9:40am local time.