NAPLES, Fla. – Nelly Korda’s birdie attempt just slipped on the 18th hole, leaving her with a tap-in for a par and a third-round, seven-under 65 that included seven birdies and zero flaws.
It was another dazzling display from the world number 2 – a performance that could have been even better if a few putts had been the right way.
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“There’s definitely a few I left out there, but that’s golf,” Korda said after his round at Golf of Tiburón. “They’re all really close and hot, which means I hit it where I want.”
This has been Korda’s season, the one that saw her leave without victory with a turn to play. She played good golf, but she only had a tick here and a tick there, preventing her from lifting a trophy a year after hoisting seven. Even when Korda was at her best this year, she was either beaten (as by A Lim Kim at the Tournament of Champions) or her putter let her down, as was the case during her second-place finish at the U.S. Women’s Open.
Korda stuttered in the first round at Naples, but responded by blitzing the course Friday to get into contention. She backed up that second-round 64 with a Saturday 65, only to see world number one Jeeno Thitikul beat her by one stroke and extend her lead to six heading into the final round, leaving Korda with a big mountain to climb if she plans to end the season with a victory.
Nelly Korda watches Jeeno Thitikul play a shot
But even though Korda doesn’t want to go winless in 2025, she doesn’t plan to approach Sunday’s final any differently to ensure she finishes with a trophy. She will press the pedal while staying in her step.
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“I feel like when you start pushing a little harder, sometimes the mistakes start to creep in a little bit,” Korda said of his mindset while trying to topple Thitikul. “You just have to focus on your process and yourself. If it happens, it happens. You know, just know that you’re competing and you’re trying to win, but you also don’t have to get too far ahead of yourself and play the game.”
While Korda’s winless drought has headlined the 2025 LPGA season, Thitikul was the story.
The 22-year-old has won twice and is just a few misses Sunday away from two more victories. She surpassed Korda as world number 1and her stats indicate she’s been as dominant as Korda was a year ago, with just five fewer wins to show for it. Thitikul leads the LPGA in scoring average (68.88), strokes gained: total (2.96), birdie or better percentage (27.69%), bogey avoidance (10.94%), Par 3 scoring average (2.89) and Par 4 scoring average (3.92).
Thitikul won the CME Group Tour Championship last year and will enter Sunday at 22 under, six shots ahead of Korda and Pajaree Anannarukarn. She’s poised to win Player of the Year and the Vare Trophy on Sunday when all is said and done.
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But Thitikul, who made a four-putt on the last hole at Kroger to lose to Charley Hull, knows that on this accessible course, in these conditions, this tournament is far from over.
“As I always say, all the winners here have a score of around 20 or above, which is a really low score,” Thitikul said Friday. “We just have to win more and more. »
As she has done all year, she delivered more on Saturday.
After a sloppy bogey at the opening par 5, Thitikul made birdies at 2, 4, 5 and 6 before making four birdies in a row on the back nine to extend his lead heading into Sunday.
Thitikul’s humility and perspective shone through in a year in which he statistically dominated the competition. After overtaking Korda as world number one, Thitikul laughed and said she “I don’t think she’s that good.”
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But Jeeno Thitikul is that well, and she can put the perfect cap on the 2025 season on Sunday by defending her title in Naples.
It’s fitting that the only one likely to have a chance of finding it again is Korda, who hopes to finally find herself on the right side of golf’s fine line to end what has been a frustrating 2025.
“The competition is getting better and better here every year,” Korda said Friday. “It just makes you want to improve too because there’s nothing better than being in contention on Sunday on the back nine.”
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