Green leads tightly packed leaderboard at Palos Verdes

Although it wasn’t the red number that 36-hole leader Hannah Green was looking for on Moving Day at the Palos Verdes Championship presented by Bank of America, she was still very proud of her grit on day three.

The 25-year-old opened the third round with a pair of bogeys on the first two holes and from there, the day continued to be up and down. She went bogey-eagle-bogey-birdie on holes 6 through 9 and wrapped up the day with a bogey and a birdie on the back nine to finish at +1 and -8 under for the tournament.
“I got off to a horrendous start I guess you could say,” said Green, who hit 10 of 14 fairways and 11 of 18 greens on Saturday.
“Just short-sided myself too many times today so I was actually pretty happy with the 1-over score. I hit a couple of funny wedge shots and also didn't read the lies and the wind direction so hopefully tomorrow I can do that a little bit better and like I want to do — hit more fairways and greens and less putts.”

This is Green’s second time holding the 54-hole lead on the LPGA Tour – the previous occasion saw her go on to win the 2019 KPMG Women’s PGA Championship, her first Tour win and major championship title. She’s had two top-10s and one top-five this season, the latter of which came at last week’s DIO Implant LA Open.
The Rolex Rankings No. 19 already has one worldwide win in 2022 that came just a few months ago in February, a four-shot victory at the TPS Murray River at Cobram Barooga Golf Club. A victory tomorrow would end Green’s 973-day winless drought on the LPGA Tour and considering her good form as of late, she’s more than primed for the opportunity.

“I'm feeling really good,” Green said. “I think I'm trusting my game a lot more than I have probably when we were in Asia. I played good but just didn't trust a couple of swings and shots. So it's nice to come here to a new golf course and create new memories. I've made some great putts and hit some great shots, so that's all I'm going to try and think about tomorrow.”

Rolex Rankings No. 3 Lydia Ko sits in solo second after a -1 performance in the third round and like Green, it was a rollercoaster day for the New Zealand native. Ko made an early double bogey on the second hole and carded a bogey to be +3 through four. She rattled off five birdies and though she bogeyed the par-3 17th late, Ko is currently one back of the lead at seven-under.
“(Hannah) is obviously a great player. She also never gets so high or so low, and I always enjoy playing with her. It's going to be fun. I think you being few shots behind doesn't make you completely out of it," said Ko.
"I think the course can be very versatile in the sense of like the tee box options and that makes holes way more difficult or like more of like a birdieable hole. I'm intrigued to see how it's going to be set up tomorrow.”

Nine players are in a tie for third at -3, including 7-time major champion Inbee Park who made a critical eagle on the 16th hole to pull herself into contention, major champions Lexi Thompson and Minjee Lee and LPGA Tour rookie Allisen Corpuz. Corpuz is coming off back-to-back top-20 performances and is excited to be in the mix heading into Sunday at a golf course she knows so well.
“I’m just trying to trust my routine and keep doing the same thing,” said the University of Southern California alum. “Really trying to take this year as a learning process and not be too hard on myself. Just be happy about where I am.”

Augusta National Women’s Amateur champion and sponsor invite Anna Davis shot a +1 72 and currently sits in a tie for 56th.