Nelly Korda has a chance to create history at the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship 2026. She has already won the Chevron Championship and the US Women’s Open this year. A win at Hazeltine National Golf Club means she will tie Babe Zaharias and Inbee Park for three consecutive major titles, only one shy of the record holder, Mickey Wright. She could also clinch the record of the youngest to be included in the LPGA Hall of Fame, beating Lydia Ko.

With all this and much more at stake, the World No. 1 started her journey at Hazeltine. Her opening round was a 2-under 70, which featured five birdies, one bogey, and a double bogey on the 16th. This left her tied for 19th on the leaderboard. However, she upped her game in the second round.

The 19-time LPGA winner carded 4-under 68 with five birdies and a bogey in her second round, helping her climb to T6 midway. But despite the improvement, she was still 6 strokes behind the leader, Ina Yoon. However, Yoon fumbled in her third round, as she is 3-over through the 16th hole in her third round. While it was the South Korean professional Haeran Ryu who took her position as the leader after the third round, this opened an opportunity for Nelly Korda, as she is now just four strokes behind the leader heading into the final round.

Here’s a breakdown of the 27-year-old’s third round.

The story of the front nine performances

Nelly Korda opened her third round at 10:23 AM CDT alongside Karis Davidson and Weiwei Zhang.

She started with back-to-back pars on the first two holes and followed it with a bogey on the par-5 3rd. Her 3rd and 4th shots were poor. Her 138-yard 3rd shot landed in the left bunker. As she tried to overcome that, she hit the 4th one with a little extra power. From 38 feet 11 inches to the hole in the bunker, the ball went to 31 feet 8 inches, and she took two more hits to cover that distance.

Korda covered that extra shot on the 6th hole, where she hit a birdie. This time, she was accurate with all her hits. A 271-yard tee shot got her to the right fairway, which she followed with a 106-yard hit to the left green. Finally, she claimed the birdie with a 14-foot putt.

With a birdie and a bogey, Nelly Korda was on par in her front nine. While not exactly as great as Round 2, it was again the back nine that helped Korda score some important points.

Nelly Korda’s performance on the back nine

The World No. 1 started her back nine very strongly. While the 10th hole was a par, she hit birdies on holes 11 and 13.

Birdie on the par-5 11th was thanks to consecutive 240+ yard shots. Her approach to the green was equally exceptional, as she landed just 9 feet and 10 inches from the hole, which she was able to manage in her birdie putt. The same accuracy was on display on the 13th. Her tee shot fell just 4 feet and 2 inches away from the hole. With those two birdies, she was 2-under through 13th, which propelled her to a tie for 3rd on the scoreboard.

But she followed her Round 1 pattern. She hit a double bogey on the 16th in the first round, and this time, it was a bogey on the 17th. Her drive was on point, and she landed on the green. However, she missed her 6-foot-8-inch par putt opportunity and ended with a bogey.

Collectively, she ended her third round with one-under 71.

Her stats for the third round are:

As you can see, the striking difference between her 4-under Round 2 and 1-under Round 3 is putting. Her SG: Putting in Round 2 was 2.744. While her driving improved significantly on the moving day, it did not outweigh the losses caused by poor putting.

With just four short of the leader, Haeran Ryu, she will certainly try to make a move on the final day to claim her third consecutive title. However, wind is expected to be even higher tomorrow, which could pose a challenge for Nelly Korda.