Two-time champion Jiyai Shin capitalized on a back-nine collapse by top-ranked Nelly Korda to take a one-shot lead after the third round of the Women’s British Open at St. Andrews on Saturday.
Nothing will give the 36-year-old Shin more confidence heading into the final round than how she collected the last of her seven birdies in a 5-under 67 at the home of golf.
On the par-4 17th, the famous Road Hole, the former world No. 1 hit a fairway wood that landed at the front of the green and rolled to inside 2 feet from the pin.
That took Shin to 7-under par at the fifth and final major of the year, and it’s the number the South Korean will set off on Sunday in her bid to follow up her Women’s British Open titles in 2008 and 2012.
“This is my third time at St Andrews. That’s how much I’ve played it, for so long,” said Shin, who was tied for 11th after two rounds. “I have a lot of experience with links course and with not tough wind like this, but I pretty much have a lot of good experience.”
Korda is also seeking her third major title — her first at the British Open — but will start two strokes off the lead after seeing her form from the opening two days desert her in shooting 75.
Starting with a three-shot advantage, the American missed short par putts at her first two holes to drop into a share of the lead, only to regain it with three birdies before the turn.
Korda lost her way on the back nine, missing a par putt from 4 feet at No. 12, another from 5 feet at No. 13 and then making double on No. 16 after pushing her drive out of bounds.
There was another bogey at the 17th — a tough hole she had birdied Thursday and Friday — but a birdie at the last left Korda in third place.
“It’s nice to finish with a birdie,” Korda said, “but it wasn’t the best of days.”
Defending champion Lilia Vu rolled in a birdie putt on No. 18 to shoot 71 and be alone in second place. She totaled five birdies to offset two bogeys and a double bogey on No. 13.
“The wheels were falling off in the middle of it,” Vu said. “I was getting anxious, but caddie [Cole Pensanti] was able to give me words of encouragement that I’m playing well. It’s just a couple bad breaks.”
Olympic champion Lydia Ko (71) and Jenny Shin (70) are tied for fourth.
Charley Hull faded from contention after shooting 75 and was 2 under, five off the lead.
Jiyai Shin was a prodigy, winning the Women’s British Open at Sunningdale in 2008 when she wasn’t yet a member of the LPGA. Her victory at Hoylake four years later was by nine shots and was one of the most commanding title triumphs in a women’s major. In between those major wins, she rose atop the world ranking.
However, she resigned her LPGA membership in the United States before the start of the 2014 season and went back to Asia to be close to her father, playing instead in Japan and Korea — all the while continuing to win titles.
“I worry [that I] lost fans, but I met new fans, more new fans,” Shin said, adding. “I keep working hard. I know myself very well now. Even in different condition, I can more handle by myself. That’s why I’m here.”
Shin birdied Nos. 1 and 2 and really made her move with three consecutive birdies on Nos. 7-9 to move one behind Korda. She birdied No. 12 to stay one back, and that clinic on No. 17 finally put her in the lead.
“I couldn’t see where ball finished because my height,” Shin said. “I couldn’t see it. I can hear a lot of claps, but I couldn’t see where they finished. And then my thought was, ‘OK, just make the green,’ and then when I come up … to the hole, like wow, so close.”
The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.