Jeeno Thitikul, Andrea Lee, Nelly Korda 2025 FM Championship Round 3

Let's get up to the fifth and say hi to Tom. Let's start with the world number one, Gino Turricone, in her second here. Flagged to the post on the front of that green, not playing as an easy... ...and the blue played four holes, I think, total. Back to five. Check in with Nelly Korda, this to get it to nine under par. Kind of nice for the spectators out here today. You've got Nelly playing alongside Gino, so the world's top two players. Drawn together today. Third member of that group is John Lee Six, who's a major champion in her own right. And Nelly with a solid... ...view last year when she made that run on Sunday, which we unfortunately had to watch yesterday. Again, fortunate that we got to see great golf, but it was because we had the weather delay. But you can do that out here early. Gino now for a birdie. It's going to be a good day for Gino in a sense, Tom. She has been so dialed in this week with her distance control. And that's going to be made even easier today with the soft conditions. I'd expect to see a lot of... ...from Norway. Good chance for a birdie there for Borga. That'll be three birdies in a row. At the fourth, Rio Takeda. And she moves it to double digits. Celebrating that Japanese... Good... ...shot there from Miranda, and she's got a chance for a birdie. Let's go to another par three, the 16th. And from Russian, Natalia Guseva. Made the cut on the number at 16. A lip out. And she'll settle for a tap in two. Going to have a bit of work to do there for Rose as we go ahead to the fourth. And her fellow Stanford Cardinal, Andrea Lee, to get it to 11 under. She's been playing some good golf in big events. She's had a really good summer and early fall. Keeps putting herself in position. Just a couple of players within four shots of Se-Young Kim when the round began. Now wide open. Hunting back down the green here, Andrea Lee. Yeah, I think that start by Se-Young Kim really just opens the door. If she can turn it around... Fabulously today, only missed one green. That's the key to scoring out here. Let's see if Andrea Lee can join the party. This is to tie at 12 under. She pulled that right off the bat. Played well and saw her name on the front page of the leaderboard. Playing well here. Let's go to seven. And Nellie for Birdie. This will be a hole that she should be taking advantage of. The par five. Don't want to fall too far back today. Driving it much better this week. Seven. Gino for her Birdie. Gino remains three under for the day. Inside the top five at the moment. Player who is number one and has rose twice a winner on the LPGA Tour. So Nellie Korda enters another weekend within striking distance, but stuck in neutral here today. See how she plays the eighth. This is a chance for her to really make a move. Another front hole location. One of the easiest holes in the course. She hit it really tight in round one here on eight. That will be a chance for Nellie. Looking for that first win of 2025 after the seven. Last year the most by an American since Beth Daniel in 19. Without all the leaning and extra movement. Hole number one. Gino Titicun at the eighth has missed the green. The second straight day. And it looks like she's going to get up and down for the second straight. Keep her right there at 10 for the second year. And it is anybody's tournament to win here. Could it be Nellie Korda? This is for Birdie at the eighth. What do you think, Pat, when you see this young crop of players here? I am so impressed, Morgan. I mean, they work so hard in their golf swings and in their everyday life. They're on call almost 24 hours a day. Have that kind of a workout. And, of course, I carried the long irons. Why? I don't know. Because they were too difficult to hit. But the rescues have really made a big difference in our game. I think you did pretty well for yourself. This is at the seventh. And Andrea Lee's birdie attempt is going to come up. Just a little short and right. Looking at these names here, Pat, and when you were playing Chaka Higuchi won the LPGA championship. This was largely an American tour, wasn't it? It was. We stayed pretty close to home in my day. These young ladies, they do have to travel the world. It's a very global tour, which I'm pleased to see. But they all know, as global players, they need to come to the United States, play the LPGA tour, to prove their greatness. Well, I think at a playoff, you really don't want to see that rules official lurking. Here is Yamashita, one at Royal Porthcawl in Wales. Wales where Judy Rankin captained. The U.S. to a Solheim Cup road victory back in 1990. Tomorrow, a good finish will help her keep her card. Off the green at 8, Andrea Lee. Looks like a putter, judging by the stroke. Definitely a putter here. Not a bad play. Just going to have to negotiate the slope coming off the bunker there. A bit uphill to start, breaking to her left. And Andrea gets to 12-under. It's not just good finishes. It's being up there late on the weekend that Andrea has really appreciated this summer. And those two majors we talked about, good chances to win. You see Gino Titicun there tied for 6th. This is her 3rd at the par 4, 10th. Pretty straightforward pitch here. One that she'd be looking to really chip in. And does. Gino to 11-under. In contention again. Judy from that same era going up and down the range. I can't find a bad golf swing. And here's Miranda with another beauty. And this is a pretty good one here, Tom. Yeah, Gino Titicun. Tee shot at 11. Going to force it back. And back we go to the 11th. And Nellie on the tee. Needs to turn it around. 7 shots back right now. Cannot really go into tomorrow's 7 behind. And it really makes the task difficult. And that's going to be a very good tee shot from Nellie. Okay. So young with a nice par save at the 6th. And trying to do again at the 8th. Gino's 4-under for the day. Outside chance here to get it to 5-under. I think the first time that she'll go to sleep, most likely with a chance the next day. This is at the 9th. Andrea Lee for birdie. Top American on the leaderboard at the moment. Good pace there from Andrea Lee. And she's going to go out in 4-under par. It's been a hard hole location to get it close to today, Tom. Only a couple birdies so far in the field. A lot of long putts like that we've seen. 74 players made the cut here. 2-tee start. Laying in 3 balls apart from the last group. Nellie with a birdie there. That's a good birdie today. So her second birdie of the day. By MGM Rewards earlier this year. Shadow Creek in Las Vegas. At the 10th, Andrea Lee. Front hole location. And she'll give herself a chance for birdie. It's the second round this morning. They're going to push it right to darkness tonight. Hopefully, hopefully they can finish. They hope even more than we do, Tom. They really hope that they finish. None of these players, especially in those final groups, want to come back out tomorrow morning. They want to get the proper rest, especially those that have played nearly two rounds today. So Andrea Lee is one of those who had to come back this morning. Shot a round of 69 and now this to get to 13-under. She's talked about just how proud she is of the way that she has played this season. She said, yes, my goal is to win every week. I keep getting closer, keep putting myself in contention. It's so fun to be in this position with a chance to win. Another spectacular round of golf today. Fifth birdie on the card through the first 10 holes. Straightest hitter on tour. To 12, the par 5. This is the third for Nellie Korda. Is there anyone you'd rather have hitting that shot? It was an interesting choice the way she chose to bump that into the slope. But it worked out nicely. Tom is the only one inside the top 20 over par today. Gino Titicun to get into a share of second. But here she is right there. I'm not sure how that defied gravity right there. Chance to get even more under par for the day. It's been a fantastic day so far. Let's go to 12. And Nellie for birdie. Oh, wow. It's been really the story of her season. She's had some chances on the weekend. And certainly her chances aren't over. But that was a third par on a par 5. Player who typically leads the tour in par 5 scoring. 11. Andrea Lee has reached this par 3. Trying to force it all the way back there. And she'll still have a putt to get it to 6 under for the day. Repair of 65s. It's a par putt for Andrea Lee at 11. Good save in the end. Bit of a miscue with the birdie putt. She keeps the bogey free. 13. And Nellie Korda would love to get a victory here. This for birdie. She's going to have to start making some birdies. And she's going to be able to close the gap tomorrow. Those players at the top of the leaderboard have looked pretty comfortable up there. And that could do with finishing with an eagle today. If you can hear me, come on. And this is Gino Tilichun for par. And it's going to be Gino's first drop shot of the day. It was going well at 5 under. But she drops back at 4 under for the round. Taking advantage there. And all three will be walking to the 18th tee. Very happy. Gino Tilichun for a bounce back birdie at the 14th. Oh yeah. Gino to 12 under. Came back to the 18th hole. Made the birdie to post 11 under. Andrea Lee for a birdie at 13. Down into that bowl where the flag is cut today. That's a good try from Andrea Lee. And she's steady. She's hanging in there. She's got experience. You know, there are some players on this leaderboard that don't have a lot of experience. A little experience. It'll be a putt for a 63, which would be the best round of the week. Think a name that looms large on the leaderboard is this one. Gino Tilichun. This is her second at the 15th. Cut over on the left. Tight on the left side. And that's good. Now back over to Nellie. She would have had a good visual there, Tom. Take dead aim. This front left hole location. Conservative. With the 12th here. Trying to get back on schedule. 15. Nellie needs to make some putts. This for a birdie. She's going to take a low, a really low round tomorrow. And you look at that leaderboard. If she stays where she is there at 8 under par on the lead at 15 under. There's just a lot of players between Nellie and Miranda Wong. Or protecting a lead or holding on to something. And we certainly haven't seen any of that from Miranda. Tilichun for birdie. Enough there. So that's going to be a 4. She'll remain at 12 under. She's been working a little bit on her golf swing over the last few weeks coming off the AIG Women's Open. Only natural. We know she will be done. We'll see if the last two groups finish up. Nellie, 1 under today after an opening 67, 70 yesterday. She finished this morning. And a great chance to get it to 2 under on the day and 9 under. But why with some phenomenal shot making. 17. Here's Nellie. We've seen players attack this flag today. Golf at the season that had to be a huge confidence booster to kind of see everything come together for once. This is Nellie for birdie at 17. Oh dear. So Nellie is going to remain a couple under I thought coming off that birdie on the last. Get a bit of momentum going here. Close out strong, but it's just going to be a par. And she's going to remain outside of the top 10. Currently 7 shots back at the lead. Still looking for that first win of 2025. Andrea Lee at the 15th. Players have missed this low here. Tom and Andrea again as well. Is it difficult to read when the shadows are sort of lengthening across the pot like that? Yeah, it definitely makes it harder, especially putting through both sun and shade. As opposed to just one or the other. Now up by 3. This is Rio Decatur at the 17th. Thought it was going to go. As we go to the 16th, Andrea Lee at this hour of top tracer technology presented by Progressive Insurance. Impressive day ball striking wise for Andrea. At every fairway, I was only missing one green. Just giving yourself a lot of birdie opportunity. Different story on the way to 17th tee. I'd say your word for it. I don't drink coffee. Decatur for birdie. In here I drink about 10 cups a day. Maybe making up for it. Good approach almost went in so. Decatur who has had a great 12 month spell as to 11 under and see if Andrea Lee can join her fellow Stanford Cardinal in second place. Kind of been what we've seen from Andrea. She's hit the ball beautifully. I think back to Evian where she had a real chance there on Sunday. Just kept burning edges. The more the pressure mounted for it just seemed like she was catching those edges for her to really catch fire tomorrow and put chase on the leader. She's going to need those to fall in. Probably hitting the ball better than we've seen her in her career and looks more comfortable in these positions. Really, really consistent. She was tied for the lead after the opening round there in Evian. Stayed in it the entire way. Hard clean. A leaderboard. Well, Gino could make a little noise here. Second shot at the par 5 18th. Beauty in here. A huge hop and ends up making bogey the other day. That too I would expect. Able to settle on the green. Tell them to aim a little higher. Nellie. It's been a day of missed opportunity. She's 2 under. One more chance for glory here. Nice balanced finish there. I think she likes it. Stays on the top shelf. It's going to roll off the green. That was unlucky. For those divots. Nellie has parred all three par 5 so far. Here's her third at 18. Once it gets over that ridge, just a bit aggressive there. Such a good second shot that just dripped off the back and left her with that tough pitch. That will be for birdie as we go back to 17. Andrea Lee, second shot. Her golf swing, Tom, is just that rhythm. It's so repeatable. Doesn't have tremendous distance, but it's just so consistent. Up to 18 and Gino Titicu to move into second place. This is for eagle. Just got to navigate that ridge right in the middle of the putt. Nellie is one of those names, not the name on this leaderboard, that would put pressure off. Basically four events left after this to keep from having to go back to the Q school. Nellie for a closing birdie. And she will par all four par 5s. Two under 70 for the second consecutive day. Long day ending. She played most of her round five. I mean, it just shows that's like her comfort zone. Not afraid to go low. A lot of players are. A lot of players start to have low rounds and start to overthink things. Oh, yeah. Ball disappears in there. Andrea Lee with the birdie. She was worried about that second shot. I think she thought she pulled it too far left. And ends up walking away with a three. So Andrea Lee in that group of 14 under par trying to play away into the final pairing tomorrow. Gino, this for the two putt birdie. Round of 65. And going up today with Nellie Korda and Jong-un Lee six. It's Gino who pulls away. Not sure with that very birdieable 18th hole if that will hold up in terms of playing. Take a look at Kumkang Park. Two players with, you know, little experience at the top. They played incredibly well today. Andrea Lee's third at 18. Chopping it out of the rough. Bit of a guessing game right there. But guessed well. Excellent look at birdie. See her reaction like I didn't know. Race for the card. So that was something she could draw on. Andrea Lee for birdie to get to 15 under. Plan is to go in twos tomorrow. So this could, you know what happens, could be a putt. To play in the final pair. It's not the easiest putt. Should break left but kind of putting up a trough here. I would have expected that to break left as well. But a good position for Andrea. Southern California. She's a player who lost her card and had to come back. Parlayed a sponsor invite in L.A., her hometown.