Nelly Korda finished Saturday's third round of the U.S. Women's Open with three birdies in a row and moved into a tie for the lead at Riviera Country Club.

If the 27-year-old wins on Sunday, she will be three-quarters of the way to completing a career Grand Slam. The LPGA golfer shot a 4-under 67 for the second straight round and is now 6 under after 54 holes. She shares the lead with South Korea's Sei Young Kim, who shot a 3-under 68 on Saturday.

LPGA Media posted on X on June 7, laying out exactly what tomorrow's win would mean for Korda.

"Nelly Korda has the opportunity to be one major championship victory closer to the Career Grand Slam," LPGA Media wrote. "Korda won the KPMG Women's PGA Championship in 2021 and The Chevron Championship in 2024 and 2026.

"With a win at the U.S. Women's Open tomorrow, she would need a win at The Amundi Evian Championship or AIG Women's Open to complete the Career Grand Slam."

A win on Sunday would also push Korda's LPGA Hall of Fame points total to 25. A player needs 27 points to qualify.

According to another LPGA Media post on X, winning a major championship would give her two additional points toward reaching that goal.

The world No. 1 has won three tournaments this season, including her third major title at The Chevron Championship. She has also finished in the top 10 in all seven events she has played this year.

If she wins the U.S. Women's Open, she will become the youngest American golfer to win four major titles since Mickey Wright achieved the feat at age 25 in 1960.

In Saturday's round, she finished strongly with birdies on holes 16, 17, and 18. She is the only player to make birdies on all three of those holes in every round so far.

But Sunday's final won't be easy.

Nelly Korda faces tough competition in final round at Riviera

Jennifer Kupcho and In Gee Chun are tied for third place, just one shot behind the lead.

Ruoning Yin, Nasa Hataoka, and Gaby Lopez are tied for fifth place, two shots behind the leader. Charley Hull had a great round on Saturday, shooting 7-under 65. That helped her move to 3 under for the tournament.

Kim, who won the 2020 KPMG Women's PGA Championship, spoke about her approach to closing out at Riviera.

"I have to focus on the course," Kim said. "This course, you really need patience and just focus on one shot at a time. It's boring, but I have to do it."

Alison Lee shared the 36-hole lead but shot a 1-over 72 Saturday to fall three back. Lee had five bogeys in her third round and is still searching for her first major title heading into Sunday.

But Korda isn't worried, for she has developed a certain mental attitude this season.

“I've tried to have the attitude of instead of saying, ‘I'm screwed in this position, oh, here we go again.’ I'm just going to embrace the challenges and I'm not going to walk off the golf course, I'm just going to figure it out,” Korda said.

“That's kind of been my attitude this year is no matter what it throws at me…I'll figure it out."

With the table so tight and given the career Grand Slam and Hall of Fame on the line for Korda, she is going to play the most important round of her career tomorrow.

What do you think? Could Sunday be Nelly Korda's defining moment? Tell us in the comments.

Written by

Sneha Abraham

Edited by

Suyashdeep Sason