Inbee Park
SOUTHAMPTON, N.Y. - Inbee Park is one round from making history by winning the first three majors of the year.
The top-ranked Park had a four-stroke lead through three rounds at the U.S. Women's Open. She shot 1-under 71 on Saturday in harsh conditions at Sebonack and was 10 under for the tournament.
Fellow South Korean I.K. Kim had a 73 to remain in second but lost two strokes to Park. With the wind whipping, the greens fast and the pin placements tricky, Park was the only player to shoot under par for the round.
No one has ever won the first three majors in a year when there were at least four.
"I'm just going to try to do the same thing that I did for the last three days," Park said. "Yeah, it will be a big day. But it's just a round of golf, and I just try not to think about it so much."
Park made three straight bogeys on the 11th, 12th and 13th holes to briefly look vulnerable - though she still led by three strokes. Just in time, her brilliant putting resurfaced.
She holed a long downhill birdie putt on No. 14, then made another lengthy birdie try on the 15th.
It looked as though nobody would break par for the day until she birdied No. 18. Only five players were under par for the tournament.
England's Jodi Ewart Shadoff (74) was third at 3 under. She had to play 21 holes Saturday after the second round was suspended the night before because of fog. Park had good timing Friday: Her group was on the 18th fairway when the horn sounded, so she was able to finish off her round and rest up for the weekend.
Maude-Aimee LeBlanc of Sherbrooke, Que., shot her second straight 77, and is at 7-over 223. Brooke Mackenzie Henderson of Smiths Falls, Ont., matched the day's high score with an 83, and is at 14-over par.
Jessica Korda made a caddie change and she didn't wait until the end of the third round to do it. The 20-year-old American fired her caddie midway through the third round and her boyfriend, Johnny DelPrete, instantaneously went from spectator to participant.
Korda said she and caddie Jason Gilroyed had several disagreements over the first nine holes Saturday. So she turned to her boyfriend and said, "Johnny, grab the bag, let's go."
"It's a U.S. Open. It's a big week for me," she said after the round. "It's one of the most important weeks for me of the year. I was just not in the right state of mind."
The switch seemed to work: After shooting 5 over on the front nine, Korda was 1 under the rest of the way. She finished with a 76 and was tied for sixth at 1 over, 11 strokes behind leader Inbee Park.
"The first few holes I was very shaky, but my boyfriend/caddie kept me very calm out there and kept it very light," Korda said. "And it was kind of funny seeing him fumble over yardage."
DelPrete is a professional golfer, playing on the Web.com Tour in 2012, but had never caddied for Korda before. He'll be back on the bag for Sunday's final round.
Gilroyed has caddied for Korda for about a year. Asked if they had issues before Saturday, she said, "I think everybody has problems every week."
She's not sure what will happen after Sunday, but DelPrete isn't a long-term option.
Her father, 1998 Australian Open tennis champ Petr Korda, is the caddie for younger daughter Nelly this week. He caddied for Jessica when she was an amateur, but she said she wouldn't even consider asking him to switch from one child to the other Sunday. Nelly, the youngest player in the tournament at 14, was tied for 61st at 13 over.