Charley Hull leads heading into the final round of The ANNIKA

Charley Hull still holds the lead at The ANNIKA driven by Gainbridge at Pelican, looking to become the second wire-to-wire winner in a row following A Lim Kim at last week’s LOTTE Championship presented by Hoakalei.

Hull held the first-round co-lead with Korea’s Jiwon Jeon but held a two shot lead over 2024 Rolex Player of the Year and two-time champion at Pelican Golf Club Nelly Korda after round two. Now, Hull sits just one shot ahead of Korda and an untested Weiwei Zhang after posting a two-under 68 on Saturday.

Hull and Korda's third round

Hull got off to a strong start with a birdie on the first, then added another on seven and made the turn bogey-free. She birdied the par-3 12th, moving four shots ahead of Korda at the time before making her first bogey of the day on 13. She got that shot back right away on 14 but then lost another shot again with a bogey on 15. Meanwhile, Korda went birdie, par, birdie, birdie on holes 14-17, and when Hull made the last birdie of her round on 17, the two made their way to the final hole with just one shot separating them.

On 18, a short second shot from Hull found the water just in front of the green, while Korda’s approach landed on the green long of the hole. Taking a drop, Hull chipped up to just inside five feet and eventually holed out for bogey. After Korda sent her first putt a little over five feet past the hole, she had a chance to save par and hole a share of the lead with 18 holes to play, but she ultimately missed the putt just left and made bogey.

“I played pretty solid. I felt like I played well all day,” Hull said of her third round. “I had a bit of an unlucky shot on the par 3 (15). Just kind of caught the downslope and just bounced on,” Hull said about round three. She added, “I just felt like I was pretty solid all day. Shame to finish on a bogey, but it was a good up-and-down.”

Nelly Korda looking for a seventh win of the LPGA season

Rolex Women’s World Golf Rankings No. 1 Korda had a poor start to the day on a course where she has found much success, having earned back-to-back victories in 2021 and 2022. The six-time 2024 Tour winner made bogeys on holes two and four before making birdies on eight and nine to “have a fresh nine,” she said in her post-round interview. In the years that she has won at Pelican Golf Club, Korda held the lead following the third round, but this year, she will enter Championship Sunday one shot back of Hull at 11-under but is no less of a threat at this venue.

When asked how she bounced back following her two early bogeys, Korda said, “Just knowing that there are more opportunities out there that I can capitalize on some of the holes that I maybe have a little wedge in if I do hit it good off the tee. Stuff like that. I've played this golf course. This is my fourth year, and I know the golf course now. I know I can bounce back even if I do make some mistakes on the harder holes.”

Weiwei Zhang also in the final group on Sunday

While both Hull and Korda have been in this position before, 27-year-old Weiwei Zhang will play in the final group for the first time in her LPGA Tour career. The People’s Republic of China native shot the round of the week after carding an eight-under 62 on Saturday, jumping from T22 to T2 with her new career-low round.

Zhang made nine birdies, the most in a single round in her career, and just one bogey on Moving Day to put herself in prime position on Sunday. Zhang, who is 106th in the Race to the CME Globe, is fighting to move into the top 100 to retain full LPGA Tour status for the 2025 season, but she can do even better with a win on Sunday. With the 500 winner’s points, Zhang would also have a mathematical chance to move into the top 60 of the Race and play her way into the season-ending CME Group Tour Championship.

A stacked leaderboard

Thailand native Wichanee Meechai and Korea’s Jin Hee Im are in a tie for fourth and three shots back of Hull. Im is one of two players still in the running for 2024 Louise Suggs Rolex Rookie of the Year honors, sitting several points behind Japan’s Mao Saigo, who missed the cut. A big finish from Im would help close the gap before the winner is decided following the CME Group Tour Championship. Germany’s Olivia Cowan sits in solo sixth as she looks to play her way into the top 100 in the Race to the CME Globe. Four players are tied for seventh, including Minami Katsu, Bailey Tardy, Rose Zhang and Gaby Lopez, the last of whom could also earn a spot in the CME Group Tour Championship with a strong finish.

View the full leaderboard for The ANNIKA driven by Gainbridge at Pelican here.