Lydia Ko tied for Olympic women’s golf lead with gold medal, LPGA Hall of Fame in sights

Lydia Ko of New Zealand shot a 4-under 68 to share the lead Friday, leaving her 18 holes away from a chance to complete her Olympic medal collection with gold that would send her into the LPGA Hall of Fame. Brooke Henderson of Smiths Falls, Ont., shot a 5-under 67 in the third round and now sits at -2 overall in a four-way tie for 13th. Hamilton’s Alena Sharp fell to 44th at 8+.

“It was a good moving day. I felt great,” Henderson said. “It was a little bit windier today, so starting the day, I felt like if I could make some birdies, I could maybe move up. “It was really exciting to have the day that I did — no bogeys, five birdies. I felt like I gave myself a lot of good opportunities, so hopefully just more of the same tomorrow.”

Ko was poised to take a lead into the final day at Le Golf National until Morgane Metraux of Switzerland steadied herself from a rough patch by holing a 20-foot eagle putt on the par-5 18th to salvage a 71 and catch Ko. They were at 9-under 207, and the stage was set for yet another dynamic Olympic conclusion.

That starts with Ko, who won her first LPGA Tour title at 15 and reached No. 1 in the world for the first time at 17. Now she is one point — one victory — away from the LPGA Hall of Fame and can get that Saturday. Ko won the silver medal in Rio de Janeiro and the bronze medal in Tokyo.

“All I can do is do my best out there and hit quality shot and see where that puts me and hopefully I get a good chance at it, because the Olympics doesn’t come around every single day and definitely not even every single year. So to be in this kind of position is awesome. I’m excited to embrace all of this.”

Henderson back in contention
Henderson is glad to be back in contention, but the Canadian feels like taking things step by step and seeing what the final round will bring.

“It’s really tricky out here. I feel like for the most part, you have to play really smart. But when you do have an opportunity to be a little bit more aggressive, just try to take it and try to capitalise on those opportunities because they’re not always available,” Henderson said.

“It was nice to get the jump that I did today and move up as much as I did. It’s a lot less work than I would have had, or I did yesterday, which is a good feeling. But a lot of golf still to play.

“With those finishing holes, I feel like a lot can happen and a lot of movement, especially on Sunday afternoon. So I feel like, right to the end, I’ll have a shot at it hopefully, and just try to post a good number.”