Jersey City - By the end of the day Saturday at the Mizuho Americas Open, a familiar face had resurfaced at the top of the leaderboard.
World No. 1, Nelly Korda went bogey free and carded seven birdies on her way to a 7-under-par 65 for the round, and -13 for the tournament.
"Really solid day of golf off the tee, into the greens, and putting, too. Took my chances where I could," Korda said of her afternoon, adding, "Overall, yeah, just played some solid golf in tougher conditions coming in."
That "really solid day of golf" included 11 of 14 fairways, and 14 of 18 greens, hit, along with only needing to take 26 putts. The 26 putts taken tied Korda for the second lowest total in the field during round number three. Additionally, Korda, along with Saturday's second place finisher, Hannah Green, set the Mizuho Americas Open 54-hole scoring record with a 203. The previous record of 205 was set by Rose Zhang on her way to winning the inaugural Mizuho Americas Open last year.
Wayne, N.J. native, Marina Alex finished the third round of the Mizuho Americas Open tied for 25th at -5 for the tournament. (Photo by Christopher Shannon - JSN)
Green, round three's second place finisher, did not have such a bad day herself. Green made major moves on Moving Day securing a 9-under 63 to move her to -11 for the tournament. Green's -9 on Saturday moved her from a tie for 35th after Friday's round, to solo second at the end of the day Saturday. Additionally, along with tying the new 54-hole scoring record, Green's 9-under set a new single day scoring record at the Mizuho Americas Open.
"Yeah, felt very easy," Green said of her round, adding, "I guess I, yeah, hit 17 greens and missed a few fairways, but actually hit it really close, so it was really nice to actually not have to stress about trying to make pars today.
Green later added, "But it did feel like autopilot for a little bit there, which is very nice. So, yeah, now I put myself hopefully in contention for Sunday."
Rounding out the top three, Ayaka Furue and Gabriela Ruffels finished Saturday tied for third at -10 for the tournament. Furue scored a 5-under 67, while Ruffels carded a 4-under 68 for the day.
Garden State product, Marina Alex finished her day with a 1-under 71 putting her at -5 for the tournament, good enough for a tie for 25th.
Gianna Clemente Jumps Up to Lead AJGA Golfers After Three Days
Gianna Clemente made major Moving Day moves of her own on the American Junior Golf Association (AJGA) side of the Mizuho Americas Open.
Clemente recorded no bogies Saturday on her way to scoring 113 points for the tournament to move up six spots and into first place.
"Yeah, it was definitely very solid today," Clemente said of her third-round performance, adding, "I almost was very close to having my A-game yesterday and the putts just didn't fall. So, I knew I had it in me today. I went out there and hit it really well, just like yesterday, and the putts happened to fall today."
Defending AJGA champion, Yana Wilson sits in second, two points behind Clemente with 111, and Elise Lee sits in third with 109 points.
New Jersey natives, Aphrodite Deng and Megan Meng sit in 18th, and 22nd, with 98, and 76, points respectively.
The 2024 edition of the Mizuho Americas Open concludes Sunday with the first golfers teeing off at 8:19 a.m. at Liberty National Golf Club under the watchful eye of Lady Liberty.
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