Nelly Korda taps in for eagle and a 67 to build a 3-shot lead in Mexico

PLAYA DEL CARMEN, Mexico: Nelly Korda capped off a strong finish with a big drive and an 8-iron to 18 inches for eagle on the final hole Saturday, giving her another 5-under 67 that stretched her lead to three shots in the Riviera Maya Open at Mayakoba.
At stake for the No. 1 player in women’s golf is chance to win back-to-back on the LPGA and become the first player since Annika Sorenstam in 2001 to start a season with six consecutive tournaments finishing no worse than runner-up.
She has played in the final group in all six of her tournaments this year.
Equally impressive is that Korda is coming off a win at major championship, going wire-to-wire in The Chevron Championship at Memorial Park, a big course for big hitters. El Camaleon is tight with trouble on both sides, and she’s navigating that just fine.
“Even though I’m coming off a major win, I took Monday off to relax.

From there, I’m here to work. I’m not on vacation,” Korda said with a smile. “It’s a tough golf course.

Most important for me is mentally, being relaxed. I’d be lying if I said my energy level was 100 percent.”
Korda was at 14-under 202.
Her finish included a 9-iron into a right-to-left wind to 2 feet on the par-3 15th hole, where the green is exposed to the wind of the Caribbean Sea. This was her second straight bogey-free round — her only bogey of the tournament was on her 11th hole Thursday.
Three shots behind was Arpichaya Yubol of Thailand, whose birdie-birdie finish gave her a 66 and a spot in the final group.
“I never play with her before,” Yubol said.

“Nelly Korda, Lydia Ko, they both kind of like my idol because they play very good. And if I have to play with her tomorrow it’s just like my dream is come true. So my life is complete right