Lilia Vu (-18) has managed to stay at the top of the Ford Championship with a scorecard of 68 strokes in the third round. She has a two-shot lead over Charley Hull (-16), three over Ayaka Furue (-15) and Nanna Madsen (-16), and four over five players including Jeeno Thitikul (-14), Allisen Corpuz (-14), and Haeran Ryu (-14). On the other hand, it was a day to forget for Nelly Korda (-11), World Number One and defending champion, who shot 73, and a lacklustre performance from the Spanish players. Only Carlota Ciganda (-7) managed to gain any positions with a scorecard of 69 strokes.
Lilia Vu has remained at the summit due to her remarkable ability to make birdies. She made eight with just ten greens in regulation to her name. It’s very difficult to squeeze more out of the orange. She hit some great shots and also holed some very long putts. Conversely, she made two bogeys and a double bogey. Her game isn’t the most consistent, and we’ll see if this approach will be enough to win on Sunday. We would say she needs to find more solidity, as it’s unlikely she’ll putt two days in a row with the same level of accuracy.
Charley Hull is attentively waiting for any possible misstep from the American. The Englishwoman is quite the opposite. She has also made many birdies and committed errors, but her level of consistency is extremely high. In fact, as of today, she is one of the most reliable golfers in the world. One way or another, she always manages to stay at the top. This week, her putter is also working wonderfully.
The negative surprise of the day was for the two best in the world. Both Thitikul and Korda started high in the rankings but lost ground with rounds of 70 and 73 strokes. The Thai player still has things to say this Sunday, while Nelly has lost any chance of victory. No wonder she spoke on Friday about the inconsistency of golf. She doesn’t have it all together, and it’s most likely due to a lack of competition in this 2025 after a start to the year where she hasn’t played much.
As for the Spanish players, it wasn’t the best Saturday of our lives. The best was the Navarrese Carlota Ciganda (-7), who was coming from behind and shot 69 strokes, with four birdies and a solitary bogey. She is in 50th place in the rankings. Meanwhile, Azahara Muñoz (-3) and Julia López (PAR) moved in the opposite direction to the ideal with rounds of 76 and 77 strokes. Curiously, Azahara finished with many problems, signing three bogeys and a double bogey in the last six holes, while Julia struggled at the beginning, with a five-over-par on the first nine holes. The young player from Málaga hasn’t managed to feel comfortable on the greens.
