Well – here we go again.

For the second straight tournament on the LPGA Tour, it’ll be Hyo Joo Kim and Nelly Korda down to the wire in a Sunday finale, as Korda is chasing Kim – who fired an 11-under 61 at the Ford Championship presented by Wild Horse Pass, her second 61 of the week – as she trails by four shots.

Sunday will mark six straight rounds for Kim and Korda to play together.

Last week at the Fortinet Founders Cup Korda started the final round five shots back and caught her briefly before Kim would go on to win. Korda and Kim are the two past champions of this event and are the hottest players on the LPGA Tour right now – having both won events to begin 2026.

It’ll be a two-horse race for Sunday in Arizona, as Kim is nine shots up on the fivesome that is in third at 16 under. Korda, meanwhile, is four back of Kim’s lead but five shots ahead of the group tied for third. Korda shot a bogey-free 67 Saturday – it was tidy and impressive. But just not quite low enough to put any pressure on Kim.

Korda’s 21-under 195 is her second-lowest 54-hole total in her career.

She knows she still has work to do in the final round, however.

“It was great. I mean, playing with someone like Hyo Joo today it didn't feel like that good of a round. She played unbelievable golf; putted really well,” Korda said. “Overall, you know, I'm never going to complain about a bogey-free round and 5-under, so it was a solid one.”

Korda made birdies on Nos. 5 and 7 before adding three more on her back nine. She missed just one green in regulation Saturday.

Korda, who won the Hilton Grand Vacations Tournament of Champions to open 2026, said that she “obviously” saw Kim take it deep Saturday – she had an outside shot of shooting 59 standing in the middle of the fairway on No. 17 – but she stuck to her own game plan and was pleased enough with her day.

“You see (Kim) make putt over putt over putt and hit really good shots, but you have to really remind yourself that (it was) just Saturday. There is still 18 more holes left. It's golf. Just focus on yourself,” Korda said. “It's really easy to kind of start pushing and start to make mistakes when you're trying to not make that gap so big, but you just really trying to remind yourself to focus on yourself out there.”

This now marks the third tournament in a row Korda has found herself near the top of the leaderboard close to the finish line. She has a trophy to her credit already this year and also a runner up – this is not an unfamiliar spot for her so far in 2026.

But she said, mentally, she’s kept things as simple as possible – and that’s been a successful approach so far.

“I just told (myself), if I hit a bad shot, I’ll figure it out. It’s not the end of the world. I’m going to hit bad shots; I’m going to hit bad putts. Out here when you’re kind of in contention, you’re under a microscope so your bad shots maybe are magnified, and I try to not do that to myself.” Korda said. “I try to just figure it out as I go. I know that I’m a human being. I’m going to make mistakes. There is always the next shot, next hole, where I can bounce back.”

Korda said on Friday she was “mesmerized” by Kim’s putting, and she was “motivated” to want to stay at her level.

With a Sunday shootout afoot, Korda will have another good chance to chase down Kim as they both search for their second wins of the season.

Nelly Korda Motivated as Ever to Chase Down Hyo Joo Kim at the Ford Championship

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