NEW YORK
\nSweden\u2019s Madelene Sagstrom fired a second consecutive six-under-par 66 to take a one-shot lead at the LPGA Founders Cup on Saturday as Nelly Korda\u2019s bid for a sixth straight win faded.
\nSagstrom, who started the third round tied at the top of the leaderboard with Rose Zhang, played flawlessly to reel off six birdies in a bogey-free round at the Upper Montclair Country Club in Clifton, New Jersey.
\nThat left Sagstrom alone on 19 under heading into Sunday\u2019s final round, with Zhang lurking on her shoulder on 18 under.
\nZhang stayed in touch with a battling five-under-par 67 that included seven birdies and two bogeys.
\nSagstrom said playing alongside the in-form Zhang on Saturday had helped her round.
\n\u201cWhen you play with somebody that\u2019s playing well, I kind I felt like we kind of fed off each other all day,\u201d Sagstrom said.
\n\u201cShe was hitting good shots and I was I hitting good shots; she was hitting good putts and I was hitting good putts.
\n\u201cIt was overall a very steady round. In a good spot for tomorrow.\u201d
\nZhang meanwhile returned the compliment, describing the experience of playing with Sagstrom as \u201cincredible.\u201d
\n\u201cI was just seeing a clinic put on by Madelene,\u201d Zhang said. \u201cWe had a good time. We were having small talks and it was just an enjoyable time to both play well and have each other\u2019s company.
\n\u201cI\u2019ve always admired Madelene\u2019s game. She\u2019s been out here for a while and she\u2019s a veteran; I\u2019m just trying to learn and see how she\u2019s doing it.\u201d
\nBarring a miraculous final day charge, Sunday\u2019s fourth round looks set to be a straight shoot-out between Sagstrom and Zhang.
\nThe nearest challengers to Zhang are world number one Korda, South Korea\u2019s Kim Sei-Young and Australia\u2019s Gabriela Ruffels, who are a hefty 10 shots behind the American on eight under.
\nThe 25-year-old Korda started this week\u2019s tournament fresh from equalling Annika Sorenstam and Nancy Lopez\u2019s all-time record win streak of five in five starts following victory at last month\u2019s Chevron Championship.
\nBut Korda, who started the third round four shots off the lead, will now have to make up 11 strokes to overhaul Sagstrom on Sunday.
\nThe American star was always struggling to generate momentum on Saturday, making a bogey on the first and carding three more bogeys before the turn with two birdies.
\nKorda cut down the error count down the stretch, but was only able to make one more birdie to finish with a one-over-par 73.
\n\u201cIt was just kind of poor in all aspects,\u201d Korda said of her round. \u201cYesterday was good in everything and today was poor in everything, so that\u2019s just pretty much golf for you.
\n\u201cJust made too many stupid, silly mistakes, which was unfortunate.\u201d
\nKorda conceded that those errors were likely to have ended her chances of victory, admitting there was now a \u201cmassive gap\u201d between her and the leading duo of Zhang and Sagstrom.
\nHowever she said the occasional off-day was inevitable.
\n\u201cI\u2019ve played really good golf the past couple months. I\u2019m human, so I\u2019m going to have bad days,\u201d she said.
\n\u201cIt was just one of those days where it felt like a constant battle and didn\u2019t really play too well, but I fought until the end.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
NEW YORK Sweden\u2019s Madelene Sagstrom fired a second consecutive six-under-par 66 to take a one-shot lead at the LPGA Founders Cup on Saturday as Nelly Korda\u2019s bid for a sixth straight win faded. Sagstrom, who started the third round tied at the top of the leaderboard with Rose Zhang, played flawlessly to reel off six […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":406614,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-406601","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-sports"},"yoast_head":"\n