Gainbridge LPGA 2022 R3
January 27-30
Boca Rio Golf Club, Boca Raton, Florida
$2,000,000
Round 1, Round 2, Round 4

Estimated reading time: 6 minutes

Lydia Ko made the best of the wind and cold to shoot even par 72 and retake the solo lead by two shots at 11-under overall in the Gainbridge LPGA. Ko has now held or shared the lead after three rounds sixteen times in her LPGA Tour career, most recently at last year's LOTTE Championship which she ultimately won.

Gainbridge LPGA 2022 R3

“Going into today, I knew that it was going to be pretty difficult. Playing in the wind, any sort of temperature, makes it a lot tougher, and I knew that today was going to be a little bit more of a grind. You have to be more focused and move on when you do make mistakes.

“Finishing with pars the last couple holes, I got away with it there. To finish even par after a tough day, I think it was a solid day in the office.”

Gainbridge LPGA 2022 R3

Afer winning in Hawaii last year, she will aim to win in consecutive seasons on Sunday for the first time since the 2015 and 2016 LPGA campaigns. Ko earned eleven top-10 finishes in twenty starts in 2021

“It's great to be back in contention. I played really solid and consistent, especially in the back half of my season last year,” said Ko. “When you keep putting yourself there, you feel like at one point it's going to fall. I'm playing alongside the best female golfers and some of the best athletes in the world, so it's not easy.”

Gainbridge LPGA 2022 R3

Last week’s Hilton Grand Vacations Tournament of Champions winner Danielle Kang carded a 2-over 74 and moved down into second place.

“Today was rough. I checked out a little bit for the back nine,” said Kang. “I did everything I can to stay in contention and give myself a chance tomorrow. It was tough out there. I missed a lot of putts. There was a lot of gusting [wind over] shots and I never missed so many putts by so far [a margin] in a while.”

Celine Boutier fired a 69 to move into third place at 8-under. Hers was one of two bogey-free rounds on Saturday, the other coming from Anna Nordqvist (71).

“I didn't even realize I had gone bogey-free. I was honestly just focusing on one hole at a time, doing my best each hole. Moving up the leaderboard as much as I could was my goal for today.

Gainbridge LPGA 2022 R3