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Lydia Ko’s hopes of claiming another major title were dashed at ANA Inspiration.
Lydia Ko’s wait for a third major title is set to continue, but Tim Wilkinson remains in search of a first victory on the PGA Tour.
Both Kiwi golfers produced good third rounds in their respective tournaments in California on Sunday (New Zealand time), however, while Wilkinson is still within attacking distance at the Safeway Open, three strokes off the pace, Ko is still eight in the ANA Inspiration.
After rounds of 69 and then 74, Ko, the 2016 champion, was in an eight-place tie for 36th in the middle of the race, 10 shots off the beat and needing a huge couple of days to make up ground.
Christian Petersen / Getty Images
Despite an improved third round, Lydia Ko is well off the pace in the second major of the year.
But while she enjoyed a much better start than the day before, with a score of 69 in the three-under-par third round, the 23-year-old is still far behind, in a seven-way tie for 21st, at four. low torque.
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Despite hitting only seven of 14 fairways for the second day in a row, Ko, starting in the last nine, achieved his best ‘regulation greens’ of the tournament, with 14 of 18, as he mixed four birdies (holes 11, 17, three and nine) and a ghost (one).
Canadian Brooke Henderson was the big move on move-in day, with 65 years old who saw her come from a tie for seventh place with five-under, six shots from leader Nelly Korda, to now have a part of the lead with the American, 12- below.
For Wilkinson, it was another consistent round of the PGA Tour season opener.
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Tim Wilkinson is on track to achieve his best PGA Tour result in several years. (File photo)
After shooting 67 and 68, the 42-year-old was tied for 12th at the halfway point, six shots behind, and this time he went without ghosts on his way to another 68 at four under par.
Wilkinson started on fire, birdie four of his first five holes to sit among the leaders, though he had to settle for 13 successive pairs after that.
He has it at 13 under par, in a six-point tie for 12th, but now just three strokes behind the lead, which is held by American duo Brian Stuard and James Hahn, and Australian Cameron Percy.
Wilkinson’s best result of the Tour is a tie for second at the Texas Open in 2008, while he also has a third place, also in 2008, at the New Orleans Classic. He hasn’t had a top 10 since 2016.
Meanwhile, a bad third round has left Ryan Fox out of contention at the Portugal Masters of the European Tour.
Tied for 12th, eight shots off the beat, at the midpoint, Fox fired a four-out of 75 to be two-under overall, in a 49-share.
He’s nine shots behind George Coetzee, with the South African taking the lead after France’s Julien Guerrier blew his five-shot lead at 75.
