Emily Pedersen equals LPGA 54-hole record to lead at The Annika

Denmark's Emily Kristine Pedersen shot a six-under 64 to assume a three-shot lead after three rounds of The Annika in Belleair, Florida.

Pedersen's bogey-free round leaves her at 18-under 192 at Pelican Golf Club, matching the LPGA record through 54 holes first set by tournament host Annika Sorenstam at the 2003 Mizuno Classic.

It was also matched by Japan's Nasa Hataoka (2018), South Korea's Sei Young Kim (2018) and Danielle Kang (2021).

Amy Yang of South Korea and Lilia Vu are tied for second, three shots behind Pedersen. Yang carded a 61 and Vu shot 62 on Saturday.

Leona Maguire is in a share of 54th on two under after a level-par 70.

Alison Lee (62 ), Thailand's Patty Tavatanakit (62), Spain's Azahara Munoz (64) and Mexico's Gaby Lopez (65) are all tied for fourth place at 13-under 197. Lexi Thompson (66) is part of a three-way tie for 12th at 10-under 200.

Two-time defending champion Nelly Korda (67) and Canada's Brooke Henderson (65) are part of a tie for 17th at eight under.

Leaderboard

Pedersen set the 36-hole event record on Friday when she was at 12-under 128.

On Saturday, she made consecutive birdies on holes 2 and 3 and later made four more on the back nine.

"My short game was pretty good today," Pedersen said. "I got up and down every time I missed a green, and I holed a chip, so that definitely kept me in the game, especially early in the round.

"It's not been great the last couple days, but today was good. That's kind of what kept the bogeys off the card and kept the momentum going, I think."