Lauren Coughlin still leads the Aramco Championship after three rounds, but Nelly Korda cut the deficit to two shots on Saturday as Shadow Creek proved why pars are good scores on its hilly layout.
Korda birdied her final two holes to post a 69 and move to five-under, sitting in second place. Coughlin shot a one-over 73 and remains at seven-under, one of only five players in red figures on the leaderboard. Nanna Koerstz Madsen and Miyu Yamashita are three-under, and Leona Maguire is one-under.
“Shadow definitely showed its colours the last couple days,” Korda said. “It’s been playing brutally hard, especially the back nine.”
Hyo Joo Kim — on a run of recent success — struggled, opening with two bogeys and a double-bogey over the first three holes and finishing with a 79. She fell from a tie for second to a tie for 17th at four-over.
The Aramco Championship is co-sanctioned with the Ladies European Tour and carries a $4 million purse, attracting the top 20 players in the world.
Korda’s form this season is starting to mirror her standout 2024, when she won seven times and earned player of the year. After a winless 2025, she already has a victory and two runner-up finishes through three events this year.
“I’m just playing really good golf,” said world No. 2 Korda. “I have always worked really, really hard, but I’m proud of the work that I’ve put in the past few weeks when I had off… I just feel refreshed, happy. I’m excited to compete. Last year was just a weird year where stuff was just not going my way by like centimetres. That wears on you, and that’s why I like taking like longer breaks.”
Coughlin, a 2024 winner in Canada and Scotland, nearly prevailed at Shadow Creek when it staged match play last year, reaching the final pairing before losing to Madelene Sagstrom. Her strong showing this week underlines her familiarity with the course.
“There are a few holes that you can make birdies, like the par fives, 11, 12,” Coughlin said. “So trying to take advantage when you can and just holding on for dear life on the other holes.”
Watch the final round of the Aramco Championship from 11pm on Sunday live on Sky Sports Golf; stream options are available.