New Zealand’s Lydia Ko boosted her bid to complete the full set of Olympic medals as she moved into a share of the lead with Switzerland’s Morgane Metraux after the third round of the women’s golf competition.
The two-time major winner appeared set to hold the outright lead with one day to play until surprise act and playing partner Metraux produced an eagle at the par-five 18th to join her at nine under after 54 holes.
Ko, who is bidding to become the first woman in the modern Olympic golf era to win three straight medals (she won silver at Rio 2016 and bronze at Tokyo 2020), mixed three birdies with a lone bogey at the seventh to turn in two under. She then cancelled out a birdie at the 10th with a bogey at the 12th, before birdieing the 17th to take a two-shot lead to the last.
It was then that Metraux, who had been in the shadows of others for most of Friday, produced her best moment of the round as she backed up an excellent approach at the final hole with an equally impressive 20-foot putt for eagle to record a one-under 71.
While it was not as eye-catching as Thursday’s 6-under 66, in which she played the front nine in 28 blows, world No. 137 Metraux showed her resolve after her round threatened to unravel with three bogeys in a four-hole stretch from holes 10-13.
Two shots adrift sit their nearest challengers in Rose Zhang of USA and Japan’s Miyu Yamashita, another Olympic debutant.
Zhang made eagles at the 14th and 18th in her 67 that also included a double bogey at the par four 15th, while Yamashita – two years her senior at 23 – posted a four-under 68.
The Japanese was one of just two bogey-free rounds on Friday, with the other going to Canada’s Brooke Henderson as she hit a five-under 67 to leave herself at two under.
Defending gold medallist Nelly Korda is in a four-strong group of players at seven under after a third-round 70, along with France’s Celine Boutier and China’s Xiyu Lin and Ruoning Yin.
Australia’s Hannah Green carded the best round of the day with a six-under 66 that featured seven birdies and a stunning 153-yard, hole-out eagle at the par four 17th to climb into a tie for 11th.
