By ASSOCIATED PRESS
SAINT-QUENTIN-EN-YVELINES, France (AP) — Lydia Ko decided to get off Instagram during the Olympics to limit the distractions. With nothing else to do, she downloaded the documentary “Rising” on gymnastics star Simone Biles and even jotted a few of the quotes in her yardage book.
Among the quotes that stood out: “I get to write my own ending.”
It could be as special as they come for Ko in women’s golf. At stake for the 27-year-old Kiwi is a chance to complete her Olympic medal collection with gold — she won the silver in Rio de Janeiro and the bronze in Tokyo.
A victory also would give her the last point she needs for the LPGA Hall of Fame.
“If it all goes the way I imagine it or dream it to be, that would be the perfect quote,” Ko said after piecing together a hard-earned round of 4-under 68 in a challenging wind at Le Golf National to share the lead with Morgane Metraux of Switzerland.
But 18 holes can feel like a long way to go, especially with the late afternoon sparks that came from all over the golf course, at one point producing a four-way tie for the lead.
Metraux looked to be making enough bogeys to take herself out of the mix until a hybrid over the water to 20 feet on the par-5 closing hole, setting up an eagle for a 71 that allowed her to share the lead with Ko at 9-under 207.
The stage was set for another wild finish.
Rose Zhang, the decorated American amateur star who won her first tournament as a pro and hasn’t really slowed, had two eagles on the back nine to offset a shot into the water for double bogey. It added to a 67. She was two behind, along with Miyu Yamashita of Japan (68).
Still very much in the mix was Nelly Korda, the No. 1 player in the world and defending Olympic gold medalist. She hit into the water on her first hole. She chopped up the reachable par-5 third and made bogey. And then she holed out from 82 yards in deep rough for birdie and kept herself in the game with a 70. She was five behind.
Korda watched Scottie Scheffler rally from a six-shot deficit on the back nine on Sunday, Aug. 11, and win the gold medal.
“Anything can happen,” Korda said.
Also five shots behind was Celine Boutier of France, still getting the loudest cheers, especially when she overcame a triple bogey with three straight birdies at the end of a 71.
“This golf course, doesn’t matter if you’re four, five, six shots behind. You could potentially be there, and I think tomorrow is meant to be warm and pretty still conditions in regard to the wind. So someone could shoot a very low score,” Ko said.
“All I can do is do my best out there and hit quality shots 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.”
Amid all those possibilities sits Mariajo Uribe of Colombia, who targeted the Olympics as a place to retire. She didn’t have full status on the LPGA Tour this year and traveled the world in search of ranking points for a chance to make the Olympics her farewell.
She was tied for the lead on the back nine until two late bogeys for a 71. Even so, she was four shots behind — two shots away from a chance to reach the podium.
She brought no recovery gear because Saturday will be her last round. She has Colombian colors of red, blue and yellow on her shoes, along with socks that have a smiley face. She brought a flag to wave on the first tee.
“It’s going to be a great day, no matter what happens,” she said.
Metraux, who started the round with a one-shot lead, looked to be fading when she made three bogeys on four holes to start the back nine. She steadied herself with a birdie on the par-5 14th, and then hit hybrid over the water to 20 feet for the closing bogey.
Winless on the LPGA in her three years, she now finds herself on a grand stage with one of the LPGA’s biggest stars of this generation and Zhang, seen as the LPGA’s future star.
“I was a lot more calm and serene than I thought I was going to be,” Metraux said. “Things just didn’t quite drop for most of the round for me. But I stayed really patient and it paid off on the last hole.”
The round came to life in a span of about two minutes on the back nine. Zhang drilled a 3-wood over an expansive bunker on the 14th to 30 feet and holed it for eagle to reach 7 under, right about the time Metraux and Ko were making bogey on the 12th hole. That created a four-way tie for the lead with Uribe.
Korda narrowly missed an eagle putt on the 14th and then took on the flag over the water on the 15th for a 20-foot birdie to get within two. Aggressive, yes.
But she didn’t finish it off — she didn’t make quadruple bogey like Thursday, though she missed a 30-inch par putt on the 17th and went from rough-to-rough on the 18th that took away a prime birdie chance.
“We’ll see how it goes,” she said. “I’m giving myself a chance.”
