You’d need a heart of stone not to wish Kim In-Kyung all the best at Mission Hills this afternoon. Back in 2012, Kim left herself a one-foot putt for victory in the ANA Inspiration’s earlier guise, the Kraft Nabisco. A quick tap-in, and then she’d be taking the famous celebratory leap into Poppie’s Pond, before being awarded the Dinah Shore Trophy and draped in the Champions Robe.
Easy as you like. Only Kim – who had made a couple of fine birdie putts from 15 and 20 feet at 16 and 17 – allowed herself to be devoured by golf’s demons and yipped the tiddler. Her South Korean compatriot Sun-young Yoo won the resulting play-off at the first hole. Most of Kim’s demons were happily exorcised by her 2017 British Open win, a major finally landed. But one or two remain, because Mission Hills owes her a little something. If she prevails today, there’ll be wild and glorious scenes at Poppie’s Pond.
Not that Kim is the only player hoping to offset some major heartache. Ko Jin-young shot a fine 68 yesterday – it could have been a whole lot better had she not underclubbed at the par-three 14th and found the drink – and goes into this final round as leader, one shot clear of Kim. Ko has led after 54 holes at a major before, at Turnberry in the 2015 British Open, but she was blown away by peak-era Inbee Park, who shot an unforgettable 65. Ko looked the calmest of the entire field on Moving Day. If she repeats the process and breaks her major duck, there’ll be wild and glorious scenes at Poppie’s Pond.
Ko (-8) and Kim (-7) are out in the final group, clear of the rest of the field. But the gap’s not insurmountable. Lurking just behind at -5 are Danielle Kang, who was ripping the ball down the track with great relish yesterday, despite tweaking her shoulder playing through the thick rough, and Lee Mi-hyang, who last night sent a hybrid into the par-three 17th; three bounces and one gentle roll later, she was celebrating a hole-in-one and first-class air tickets anywhere in the world, courtesy of sponsor ANA.
A little bit further back at -3: Alena Sharp, Katherine Kirk and the marvellously monickered Jeongeun Lee6 (there have been five other Jeongeun Lees on the Korean tour, you see). The group containing Brooke Henderson and Jessica Korda should be well worth keeping an eye on too. We could go on, with the likes of Lexi Thompson, Charley Hull, Brittany Lincicombe and Carlota Ciganda just about still within realistic striking distance. But we won’t go on.
The first women’s major of the year is set up just so. A super Sunday stretches out ahead of us, as we discover who’ll be the latest star name to take the famous leap, kicking off wild and glorious scenes at Poppie’s Pond. It’s on!
-8: JY Ko
-7: IK Kim
-5: MH Lee, Kang
-3: Sharp, Lee6, Kirk
-2: Yin, Lewis, Lin, Henderson, J Korda, SH Park, McDonald
-1: Uehara, HJ Kim, Lincicome, Ciganda, Martin, Shin, Lee, Yang, Hull, Yan, Thompson
And the fourth-round tee times … are here.
