(Reuters) – Canada’s Brooke Henderson reeled off an eagle and six birdies to card a seven-under 65 on Saturday and join Nelly Korda at the top of the leaderboard heading into the final round of the ANA Inspiration.
Henderson started the day six shots behind overnight leader Korda but quickly erased the deficit with an eagle at the second followed by birdies at the fourth, sixth, seventh and ninth holes as she tied a Mission Hills record with a 30 on the front nine.
A bogey at the 13th tripped her up but she recovered with another birdie at the 16th.
“I was just trying to move up as much as I could, make a lot of birdies,” said Henderson, who is chasing her second major title. “I’m definitely really happy with this.”
Korda began the round with a two-shot lead over Mirim Lee but fell three shots back with a bogey at the fifth and a double-bogey at the sixth.
The 22-year-old American, chasing her maiden major, rallied with three birdies on the back nine to card a one-under 71 and join Henderson on 12-under 204, setting up a thrilling finale at Rancho Mirage.
“It was a disappointing front nine, but I was really proud of the way I fought on the back nine. Never gave up and there’s still 18 more holes to be played, so much golf,” said Korda.
Australian Katherine Kirk, 2014 champion Lexi Thompson and Lee are tied for third, two strokes adrift of the leaders.
The ANA Inspiration is usually played in April but was pushed back due to the COVID-19 pandemic and is being held without fans in attendance.
(Reporting by Arvind Sriram in Bengaluru; Editing by William Mallard)
