Shake Up at Top at Riviera: World No. 1 Korda, S.Y. Kim 54-Hole Leaders

In case you hadn’t heard, an earthquake rocked Southern California on Saturday. But the epicenter was extremely isolated. Only those attending the 81st U.S. Women’s Open Presented by Ally at The Riviera Country Club could have felt the ground shaking.

The culprit(s) were not any secret fault lines running through this magnificent property hosting its first major women’s event.

Instead, Richter scale measurements were felt by numbers on a scorecard. Aftershocks? They were felt by the six players who took turns with the third-round lead, which by day’s end was held by world No. 1 Nelly Korda and Sei Young Kim at 6-under 207.

They are one shot ahead of 2015 U.S. Women’s Open champion In Gee Chun and another major champion, Jennifer Kupcho.

In fact, this is the first time in 30 years that each of the four top players are major winners. At Pine Needles in 1996, eventual champion Annika Sorenstam, Brandie Burton and Jane Geddes occupied the top three spots.

But those three weren’t the only ones causing seismic movement on Moving Day. Early in the afternoon, the roar from 18 shook the property when Charley Hull concluded a championship-best, 6-under-par 65, a round punctuated by an 8-foot birdie on the closing hole. The Englishwoman, who is a fan favorite for her unbridled charisma on and off the course, vaulted from a share of 45th to a tie for eighth at 3-under 210.

Amateurs also caused some commotion at Riviera on Saturday. Asterisk Talley’s 66 was the lowest weekend round ever shot by an amateur in the U.S. Women’s Open. The 17-year-old is one of three amateurs in red figures, led by 2026 Augusta National Women’s Amateur champion/University of Arkansas All-American Maria Jose Marin, of Colombia, and 2025 U.S. Girls’ Junior champion Aphrodite Deng, of Canada. Both sit at 2-under 211, one stroke ahead of Talley.

Second-round co-leader and Southern California native Alison Lee, bidding to become the fourth mom to win the U.S. Women’s Open, struggled to a 1-over 72 and is tied with Hull and Hyunjo Yoo. Major champion Rouning Yin, who shared the midway lead with Lee, is among the group at 4-under 209 with Gaby Lopez and 2021 runner-up Nasa Hataoka.

Of the 17 players in red figures going into Sunday’s final round, 16 carded rounds of even-par 71 or better on Saturday, with Lee the lone outlier.

Korda's 67 was her 17th round of 67 or lower in major championship play, all since 2018, tying three-time major winner Minjee Lee for the most such rounds over the last decade. On Saturday, the Floridian, already with three wins in 2026 including a major (Chevron Championship), posted a 1-under 34 on what has been statistically the easier nine, but she finished the way a No. 1 player should with three consecutive birdies.

A comfortable 8-iron to 5½ feet set up the first birdie on the 146-yard 16th, then she unloaded one of her best drives of the week, a 289-yarder to the right fairway to set up a 220-yard hybrid second to the 508-yard, par-5 17th. Even though she was over the green, her prep with Long Beach-based instructor Jamie Mulligan paid off as she knew her 57-foot downhill third had to be delicately struck, which it was, to 2 feet. Then on the par-4 18th, her 9-iron approach from 153 yards stopped 4 feet from the flagstick.  

“Definitely it's always amazing to be in this position,” said Korda, who played in the penultimate group last year at Erin Hills, where she tied for second. “That's what we work so hard for, to be in this spot. So, whatever happens tomorrow happens, but I'm going to give it my all and see what the outcome is.”

That last Sunday pairing with Kim, the 2020 KPMG Women’s PGA champion, at 12:35 p.m. PDT should draw a huge gallery. But Kim is no stranger to the spotlight with 13 LPGA Tour wins on her résumé. She registered five birdies against two bogeys in the third round.

“I played better than yesterday, yeah, for sure,” said Kim. “I mean, temperature's a little warmer, so I feel like more free. That's why I play better. This weekend especially my friends and family, they all came out here. Yeah, I very [much] enjoyed it.”

A win on Sunday by Chun would mark an 11-year span between U.S. Women’s Open titles, second only to Meg Mallon’s 13 (1991 and 2004). It would also give the 31-year-old Korean four major championships, having already won the 2016 Evian Championship and 2022 KPMG Women’s PGA. On Friday, she credited offseason work with her Vietnam-based instructor Song Hee Kim to the new confidence she brought into this week, which has produced consistent rounds of 71-68-69.

In 2022, Kupcho won the Chevron Championship, the final year it was held in Mission Hills, Calif., before moving to Greater Houston. The former Wake Forest All-American and 2018 USA Curtis Cupper hasn’t won since the 2025 ShopRite LPGA, an event where she missed the cut last week in her title defense. She also had missed the cut in her last three U.S. Women’s Open starts. In fact, she had not posted a round in the 60s until Thursday’s opening-round 66. Now she has two after Saturday’s 69.

After making consecutive bogeys on 12 and 13, Kupcho managed to birdie the par-3 16th (6 feet) for the second time this week and the par-5 17th from the right-greenside bunker (7 feet) to get herself in Sunday’s penultimate pairing with Chun.

“Yeah, all really great competitors,” said Kupcho of the four players at the top of the leaderboard. “We have great competitors week-in and week-out out on the LPGA. So I think we're all fit for it. It's going to be a great Sunday finish.”

And don’t forget about Hull. At Pebble Beach in 2023, Hull fired a final-round 66 to finish in a tie for second. Another such round on Sunday could give the Englishwoman her first major title. With a planned golf trip to Gleneagles in Scotland with her boyfriend, having some extra hardware to show off at the resort wouldn’t be much of a burden.

Considering what’s transpired over the first three days, anything is possible.

Riviera is ready to rock.    

Notable

• Nineteen different countries are represented among the 68 players who made the cut, with one player unaffiliated. (Nataliya Guseva). The USA led the way with 14 competitors, followed closely by Japan and the Republic of Korea with 12 apiece. Australia, the People’s Republic of China and Thailand had four apiece. Sweden has three players, followed by Canada and England with two each. Chinese Taipei, Colombia, Denmark, England, France, Germany, Mexico, the Philippines, Slovenia, South Africa and Spain have one apiece.
  
  
• This will be the fourth time in Nelly Korda’s career that she’ll be in the final group of a major championship, matching three-time major champion Minjee Lee for the most in the last 10 years (2017-2026).
  
  
• Reigning U.S. Girls’ Junior champion Aphrodite Deng, 16, of Canada, is the youngest playing the weekend, while 36-year-old Anna Nordqvist, of Sweden, is the oldest.
  
  
• Amateur Farah O’Keefe, a University of Texas rising senior who recently claimed the NCAA individual title, celebrated her 21st birthday by posting a 1-under 70 that included an eagle on the par-5 17th hole. O’Keefe will be staying in Los Angeles after the championship to compete in the Curtis Cup Match next weekend at Bel-Air Country Club. She will be joined by Kiara Romero and Asterisk Talley, both of whom are playing the weekend, on the eight-woman USA Team.
  
  
• The tee on the par-4 10th hole was moved up to play 262 yards for the third round. On Friday, the hole was the sixth toughest despite measuring just 310 yards.
• A total of eight eagles were registered in Round 3, including a 197-yard hole-out by Minji Kang on the par-4 second hole with a 5-wood. Gaby Lopez also made a 2 on the par-4 10th. Four eagles were made on the par-5 first hole and two more on No. 17.
  
  
• Lottie Woad was assessed a two-stroke penalty under Rule 8.1a for improving her stance in the bunker on the ninth hole. The Englishwoman suffered a triple-bogey 7 en route to a Saturday 74.

Quotable

“I would definitely say that major championships at the end of the day are also about experience and not getting frustrated, knowing that you are going to miss a bunch of greens and you're going to have to make some crazy up-and-downs, and have to grind through it. I would say experience definitely plays a big role in the leaderboard, how it kind of shapes up in major championships. But I'm just grateful to be in this position to be playing another 18 holes in this championship and, you know, have a chance for it.” – Nelly Korda

“Honestly, just go out and have fun. I can't control what anyone else is doing, so I'm just going to go out there and do my best and see how that matches up with them.” – Jennifer Kupcho

“Yeah, I kind of like chasing. I just find it more fun and just I can then be free and then just play golf how I want to play golf.” – Charley Hull (65) on why she loves Moving Day.

“It hurts a little bit being in the final group today and not being able to play as well as I wanted to. I really felt like I was just scratching at the wall all day. Didn't feel like I had my A-game out there, but I made a lot of really good par putts to keep me in it. Looking back on my round, I feel like it could have been way higher than that. I love chasing, and so it'll be fun tomorrow to try and just play really aggressively and try and chase the leaders.” – Alison Lee

“I had two options, to putt all the way to the left, but it still was hard to make it stop. I have to accept that the next putt would be like more than 10 feet. But me and my caddie both agreed we have [an]other option to chip and then use the back slope there. And I feel really comfortable to chip on the green and then for sure felt comfortable not to make the scratch on the green (laughing). So, I decided to do it and for sure it was a great up-and-down [par].” – In Gee Chun on decision to pitch over the bunker in the middle of the sixth green

“I feel that this golf course just challenges every single part of your game. Off the tee, in the rough, you have got to read the lie very well, and you’ve got to be very smart. You can't just short side yourself, because those collars on the greens are going to push the ball away. I feel that from all those three days I feel that today was one of the most solid days I felt out there. I didn't make many putts, but really happy to make the last one [on 18 for par].” – Gaby Lopez

“A lot can happen in 18 holes. I think I'm just going to go and face the last round [on Sunday] with the same strategy I've been [using]. Enjoying the whole week, enjoying what's going to be tomorrow, because there is for sure going to be a lot of people over here, and, yeah, just play good golf and the rest will come.” – University of Arkansas All-American Maria Jose Marin who is tied with Aphrodite Deng for low-amateur honors at 2-under 211

“Like beginning of this week I was trying to not think this is a major. I know it's important tournament, but didn't want to give me the pressure, so I was trying to play as the same event as usual, and I'll [have] … the same mindset tomorrow.” – Minji Kang

“Just feeling like the hole was so big today. Couldn't miss.” – Asterisk Talley after shooting 5-under 66, the lowest by an amateur on the weekend at the U.S. Women’s Open

 David Shefter is a senior staff writer at the USGA. Email him at dshefter@usga.org.