Australia’s Karrie Webb is targeting her 39th LPGA Tour career title going into the final round of the Mobile Bay LPGA Classic.
The 38-year-old Australian followed her hot second round 63 with a 69 on Saturday to be just two shots behind leader Chella Choi of South Korea.
Choi had a 66 to reach 17-under 199, one clear of Sweden’s Anna Nordqvist, who fired a course and tournament record 61, and second-round leader Jessica Korda (69).
Playing her 17th season on the tour, Webb is on a superbly consistent run of 53 consecutive LPGA events without missing a cut as she continues to build on career earnings now standing at $US17,615,538.
She birdied three of the first six holes on Saturday before taking her first bogey since the second hole of the first round at the par-4 seventh, but she followed with another birdie at the 16th to stay in the hunt.
Choi is seeking her first LPGA title.
“Every hole birdie chance because I know my shots,” Choi said. “So I think just confidence and focus on just teeing ground. It’s no problem.”
Nordqvist fired 10 birdies and an eagle against a lone bogey to break the day-old course and event mark of 62 set by American Sydnee Michaels.
“Today was a lot of fun,” Nordqvist said. “It’s one of those days where you feel like all your hard work and your patience is paying off. You see yourself with a lot of confidence and know you can do it and believe in yourself.”
Korda, whose lone career victory came in the 2012 Women’s Australian Open, took a bogey at the par-3 second but answered with a birdie on the next hole and birdied the sixth before closing the front side with back-to-back birdies.