LPGA Tour
Diamond Resorts Tournament of Champions 2019
January 17-20
Lake Buena Vista, Florida
$1,200,000
January 17-20
Lake Buena Vista, Florida
$1,200,000
Round 3
Lydia Ko and Eun-hee Ji tied for the lead
Round 1
Round 2
Round 4
Round 1
Round 2
Round 4
January 19, 2019
New Zealand's Lydia Ko and South Korea's Eun-hee Ji each fired a five-under par 66 to share the lead after Saturday's third round of the LPGA Tournament of Champions.
Ko, Ji share lead at 13-under going into the final round of the @diamondresorts Tournament of Champions.
— LPGA (@LPGA) January 19, 2019
DAY 3 RECAP ==> https://t.co/ObE31hljzM#DiamondLPGA pic.twitter.com/XNwabZXmBQ
Canada's Brooke Henderson, who led by two strokes when the day began, took a bogey at 18 to settle for a 69 and fall one stroke off the pace in third with American Nelly Korda fourth on 202 after the day's low round of 65.
The new season-opening event features celebrities playing alongside LPGA winners from the past two seasons and an unusual atmosphere for golf with music playing at the 18th tee and green when play is idle.
Ko opened her bogey-free round with a birdie, another followed at the third and she closed the front nine with back-to-back birdies then added another at the 12th and parred her way in, the last on a clutch six-foot putt.
Ko was able to relax even while being interviewed about her celebrity playing partners while on the 18th tee but Sunday's final round is forecast to offer high winds as well.
"Tomorrow with the weather forecast it will be a little trickier, but I know I've just got to be patient and continue to enjoy it," Ko said.
Ji birdied four holes in a row from the second through the fifth before a bogey halted her run. Ji also began the back nine with back-to-back birdies and parred the last seven holes to stay among the leaders.
"I still have to think about my new swing," Ji said of changes she has been working on in the off-season. "I still work through it during the round."
World number one Ariya Jutanugarn of Thailand fired a 75 to fall back, taking bogeys at the fourth and par-5 17th and a double bogey at 15 in a birdie-less round that left her sharing 13th at 209.
At 32 years, 8 months and 7 days of age, Eun-hee Ji would become the oldest winner from the Republic of Korea since Se Ri Pak won the 2010 Bell Micro LPGA Classic at 32 years, 7 months and 18 days of age.
Lydia Ko would earn her 16th career LPGA victory and move into a tie for 35th on the All-Time Wins List with Jan Stephenson.
Brooke Henderson would earn her eighth career LPGA victory and tie Sandra Post the most LPGA victories by a Canadian player.
The celebrity competition saw its first change at the top of the leaderboard, as MLB Hall of Famer John Smoltz eagled the par-5 seventh hole en route to a third-round +39 and a three-day total of +116. The Fox analyst holds a four-point lead over MLB All-Star Mark Mulder (+112) and a five-point lead over 36-hole leader and defending celebrity champion Mardy Fish (+111).
“This is going to be a great test for me. Physically, I haven't been able to do this in a long time,” said Smoltz, who qualified for the 2018 U.S. Senior Open. “I've been strengthening my shoulder and really trying to get ready for these kinds of events in the future, and to be able to continue to hit balls without pain has been an absolute godsend.”
The celebrity competition is playing with a Modified Stableford scoring system. A double eagle earns 10 points, an ace earns eight points, an eagle earns five points, a birdie earns three points, a par earns two points, a bogey earns one points and a double bogey or higher earns zero points.
Pos. |
Player | To Par |
R1 |
R2 |
R3 |
Total |
T1 |
Lydia Ko | -13 |
66 |
68 |
66 |
200 |
T1 |
Eun-Hee Ji | -13 |
65 |
69 |
66 |
200 |
3 |
Brooke M. Henderson | -12 |
65 |
67 |
69 |
201 |
4 |
Nelly Korda | -11 |
70 |
67 |
65 |
202 |
T5 |
Mirim Lee | -9 |
67 |
68 |
69 |
204 |
6 |
Shanshan Feng | -9 |
71 |
67 |
66 |
204 |
7 |
Moriya Jutanugarn | -8 |
71 |
67 |
67 |
205 |
T8 |
Gaby Lopez | -7 |
69 |
68 |
69 |
206 |
T9 |
Stacy Lewis | -7 |
66 |
74 |
66 |
206 |
T10 |
Georgia Hall | -5 |
73 |
66 |
69 |
208 |
T10 |
Mi Hyang Lee | -5 |
68 |
71 |
69 |
208 |
T10 |
Marina Alex | -5 |
69 |
67 |
72 |
208 |
T13 |
Lexi Thompson | -4 |
67 |
69 |
73 |
209 |
T13 |
Ariya Jutanugarn | -4 |
67 |
67 |
75 |
209 |
T15 |
Cristie Kerr | -2 |
72 |
72 |
67 |
211 |
T15 |
Sei Young Kim | -2 |
69 |
69 |
73 |
211 |
T15 |
Annie Park | -2 |
68 |
70 |
73 |
211 |
T19 |
Danielle Kang | -1 |
68 |
74 |
70 |
212 |
T20 |
Amy Yang | E |
75 |
69 |
69 |
213 |
T19 |
In Gee Chun | -1 |
70 |
71 |
71 |
212 |
T20 |
Brittany Lincicome | E |
71 |
72 |
70 |
213 |
22 |
Anna Nordqvist | 1 |
71 |
74 |
69 |
214 |
23 |
Pernilla Lindberg | 2 |
77 |
70 |
68 |
215 |
T24 |
Nasa Hataoka | 3 |
73 |
72 |
71 |
216 |
T24 |
Katherine Kirk | 3 |
73 |
72 |
71 |
216 |
T24 |
Thidapa Suwannapura | 3 |
68 |
69 |
79 |
216 |
Pos. |
Player | To Par |
R3 |
Total |
T1 |
Lydia Ko | -13 |
66 |
200 |
T1 |
Eun-Hee Ji | -13 |
66 |
200 |
3 |
Brooke M. Henderson | -12 |
69 |
201 |
4 |
Nelly Korda | -11 |
65 |
202 |
T5 |
Mirim Lee | -9 |
69 |
204 |
6 |
Shanshan Feng | -9 |
66 |
204 |
7 |
Moriya Jutanugarn | -8 |
67 |
205 |
T8 |
Gaby Lopez | -7 |
69 |
206 |
T9 |
Stacy Lewis | -7 |
66 |
206 |
T10 |
Georgia Hall | -5 |
69 |
208 |
T10 |
Mi Hyang Lee | -5 |
69 |
208 |
T10 |
Marina Alex | -5 |
72 |
208 |
T13 |
Lexi Thompson | -4 |
73 |
209 |
T13 |
Ariya Jutanugarn | -4 |
75 |
209 |
T15 |
Cristie Kerr | -2 |
67 |
211 |
T15 |
Sei Young Kim | -2 |
73 |
211 |
T15 |
Annie Park | -2 |
73 |
211 |
T19 |
Danielle Kang | -1 |
70 |
212 |
T20 |
Amy Yang | E |
69 |
213 |
T19 |
In Gee Chun | -1 |
71 |
212 |
T20 |
Brittany Lincicome | E |
70 |
213 |
22 |
Anna Nordqvist | 1 |
69 |
214 |
23 |
Pernilla Lindberg | 2 |
68 |
215 |
T24 |
Nasa Hataoka | 3 |
71 |
216 |
T24 |
Katherine Kirk | 3 |
71 |
216 |
T24 |
Thidapa Suwannapura | 3 |
79 |
216 |