Yealimi Noh shoots 63 to take 1-shot lead over 3-time champion Jim Young Ko in Founders Cup
BRADENTON, Fla. — Yealimi Noh birdied eight of the last 11 holes for an 8-under 63 and a one-stroke lead Saturday over three-time champion Jim Young Ko in the Founders Cup.
After gusting wind slowed the players on the opening holes at Bradenton Country Club, Noh and Ko each made their first birdie of the day on the par-5 eighth.
'That start was a little slow, but I was hitting it solid, making some good putts,' said Noh, the 23-year-old California player chasing her first LPGA Tour victory. 'I just told myself to be patient and just wait for one to drop and then go on from there, and it did.'
Trying to win the event on a fourth venue, Ko birdied five of the final 11 for a 66.
'We had gusting in the front nine, so it was hard to play,' Ko said. 'After front nine, yeah, we made a lot of birdies, especially Yealimi. We had so much fun. I did my best today. Just some putts like was just sneaky, so I would say I kept for tomorrow.'
Ko won the tournament that honors the tour's founders in 2019 at Desert Ridge in Phoenix, 2021 at Mountain Ridge in New Jersey and 2023 in a playoff at Upper Montclair, also in New Jersey. The 29-year-old South Korean player has 15 LPGA Tour victories.
Noh had an 18-under 195 total. She opened with a 68 and shot 64 on Friday to get into the final group with Ko.
'I think my tempo has been awesome this week,' Noh said. 'It's been the best that it's ever been. I've been really staying patient throughout not only the round, but throughout my swing.'
After the breakthrough birdie on No. 8, Noh birdied the next two, added another on 12 and followed with birdie bursts on Nos. 14-15 and 17-18. She leads the field with 21 birdies, with the 63 matching her best round on tour.
'I really want to focus on myself is what I always tell myself,' Noh said. 'Just keep it like today. Just really, really prioritize my tempo tomorrow. With any kind of nerves and excitement it can get a little quick for me, so just really slow everything down and take it in the present.'
American Megan Khang shot a career-best 62 to break Ko's day-old course record. Khang was tied for third with Jin Hee Im of South Korea at 13-under.
'Everything felt kind of dialed in today,' Khang said. 'I was definitely happy that putts were starting to drop and hopefully it continues tomorrow.
Im shot 68.
Top-ranked Nelly Korda was another stroke back in her hometown event after a 65 highlighted by a chip-in birdie on No. 9. She won a Drive On tournament on the course last year for the first of her seven 2024 victories.
'Growing up on this kind of old-school Florida grass helps because it is tough to kind of hit it off,' Korda said.
Hannah Green of Australia also was 12 under, shooting 66.
___
AP golf: https://apnews.com/hub/golf
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Hamilton Spectator
27 minutes ago
- Hamilton Spectator
Photos capture South Africa's emotional WTC final victory over Australia at Lord's
South Africa has upset Australia by five wickets to win the World Test Championship on the fourth day of the final at Lord's. The South Africans celebrated their first major trophy in 27 years on Saturday. Here are some highlights. This photo gallery has been curated by AP photo editors. ___ AP cricket:
Hamilton Spectator
41 minutes ago
- Hamilton Spectator
Thunder embraced their moments of adversity this season. It paid off in Game 4 of the NBA Finals
OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — The book is called 'The Obstacle Is the Way.' It's a gift that Oklahoma City coach Mark Daigneault gave to Thunder center Isaiah Hartenstein during a trying time this season, knowing the voracious reader would figure out the meaning. Message delivered. 'I read it and remembered that everything happens for a reason,' Hartenstein said. 'And after that, everything worked out great.' Such has been the story of the Thunder season. Such was the story of Game 4 of the NBA Finals . Faced with the biggest challenge of their season — a 10-point deficit in the second half, staring at a very real chance of the Indiana Pacers grabbing the almost-insurmountable 3-1 lead in the title round — the Thunder, once again, came away saying everything worked out great. Led by a dazzling and frantic finish from the reigning MVP and scoring champion Shai Gilgeous-Alexander — who had 15 of his 35 points in the final five minutes or so — the Thunder rallied in the fourth quarter to beat Indiana 111-104 on Friday night. The series is now tied 2-2, heading back to Oklahoma City for Game 5 on Monday night, and it's the Thunder who have home-court advantage again. 'That was an uphill game against a great team,' Daigneault said after Game 4 in Indianapolis, simultaneously lauding his team while also raving about the Pacers. 'This is one of the best teams in the league in the last couple months, since All-Star break. They're a hard team to beat here. They're a hard team to beat, period. I thought we gutted it out on a night when we didn't have a lot going, especially offensively.' It was a night when the Thunder made only three 3-pointers and were shooting 45% with about five minutes left before Gilgeous-Alexander got going. He took 11 shots in the final 4:40 — three field-goal attempts, one of them a 3-point try, and eight free throws — and made them all. A perfect finish, on a night when little had gone to plan. 'It's unbelievable,' Daigneault said. 'He really didn't have it going a lot of the night. He was laboring. We had a hard time shaking him free. For him to be able to flip the switch like that and get the rhythm he got just speaks to how great of a player he is.' It might not have seemed so to the outside world — those who fixated on things like Oklahoma City's 68-14 franchise-best record, its 16-game lead over its nearest challenger in the Western Conference standings, a record number of double-digit wins and how all of it was led by the MVP and scoring champion in Gilgeous-Alexander . But the Thunder did, in fact, face some adversity this season. They played without Chet Holmgren and Hartenstein for a while during the year. There was some flux to the lineup at times. Everybody probably had some sort of mini-slump along the way. There was a Game 1 loss in the second round to Denver. And Daigneault embraced every bit of that pain, knowing that for the Thunder to get to where they want to go adversity was going to present itself. Like the being-down-10, late-third-quarter sort of adversity that came up in Game 4. Just like Hartenstein was led to believe by the book, everything worked out great. 'We haven't really had to show it a lot this year, with the success we had in the regular season,' guard Jalen Williams said shortly before the team left for the flight back to Oklahoma City, where a huge crowd showed up in the middle of the night to greet the team at the airport — as they often do . 'We've had a lot of ups and downs during the playoffs. We've just learned from those experiences. That is something Mark is really big on; every game you should be able to learn, then the next game you should be able to apply something and get better at it. That's what we're trying to do every time.' The series is far from over and the Thunder know it. Indiana already has won once at Oklahoma City in these finals; surely, the Pacers think they can do it again. And even though the teams finished 18 wins apart in the final standings — OKC won 68 times, Indiana won 50 — it doesn't seem like 18 wins worth of disparity between the clubs right now. Indiana stole Game 1 at the end. Oklahoma City stole Game 4 at the end, albeit not as dramatically as the Pacers took the opener. Game 2 was pretty much controlled by the Thunder throughout; the Pacers had the best of the play for the majority of Game 3. Add it up, and it looks exactly like what it is — a 2-2 series going into Game 5. 'I still feel like we have so much work to do,' Gilgeous-Alexander said. 'Halfway there, obviously, but still so far from the finish line.' True, but two more efforts like this, and everything will work out great. Just like the book says. ___ AP NBA:
Associated Press
an hour ago
- Associated Press
Photos capture South Africa's emotional WTC final victory over Australia at Lord's
South Africa has upset Australia by five wickets to win the World Test Championship on the fourth day of the final at Lord's. The South Africans celebrated their first major trophy in 27 years on Saturday. Here are some highlights. This photo gallery has been curated by AP photo editors. ___ AP cricket:
