– Third round of the Aramco Championship. Third battle in the Shadow Creek war. Only five players remain under par. Another day of survival. Tough, difficult, very tricky course and windy. Brutal cocktail. Lauren Coughlin (-7) remains the sole leader despite playing over par (73 strokes). She has a two-shot lead over Nelly Kordan (-5) and four over Nanna Koerstz Madsen (-3) and Miyu Yamashita (-3). The win should be among these four players. Leona Maguire (-1) is the fifth player under par in the tournament, but she already seems too far back
– Nelly Korda has once again made the feature pairing for the third consecutive week. At least she will not have Hyo Joo Kim beside her, her conqueror on the previous two occasions. A round of 79 has blown the Korean apart. Shadow Creek spares no one
– Only eight players managed to post under-par cards on Saturday and only three managed to play below 70 strokes: Lydia Ko posted the best score of the day (69), followed by Nelly Korda and Erika Hara, both with 68 strokes
– Nanna Madsen can boast of being the only player in the tournament who has not yet lost a battle against the course. She has returned rounds of 71, 70 and 72 strokes. The rest have succumbed one way or another
– The final round will be another survival battle. Against Coughlin is the fact that she has spent the whole week bearing the pressure of being on top and her rivals have been closing in ever more. Meanwhile, Korda carries the handicap of having fallen on the last two Sundays when she had chances. She will need to clear those thoughts from her head. Madsen and Yamashita have less to lose. They go out in the penultimate group with the sole aim of putting pressure on, and if it works, fine, and if not, move on
– Carlota Ciganda (+3) has moved into the top 10 with her second consecutive round at par. The Navarrese’s resilience is rewarded. Her opening round of 75 had left her well back, but far from throwing in the towel she kept looking forward. Her strategy has paid off. The aim is to minimise mistakes, but above all to be aggressive when necessary. It’s unthinkable that she will make bogeys, so it is essential to create birdie opportunities and take them. Carlota’s round was a back-and-forth battle, with four birdies and four bogeys
Ciganda is not vying for the win, but she can still dream of securing a top-5 that was barely expected at the start of the tournament, at least after the first round. It could be one of those weeks that matter greatly at the end of the season
– As for the other Spaniards, in line with the rest of the field. Suffer, grit their teeth and survive as best they can. Julia López (+8) sits in 38th place after posting a 75. Meanwhile, Luna Sobrón (+10) and Carla Tejedo (+11) are beyond 45th with scores of 77 and 76 strokes
