Nelly Korda, the best golfer in the women's game, has suffered a back-nine collapse at St Andrews to enable a predecessor as world No.1 to grab pole position going into the final round of the British Open.
Two-time winner of the tournament Jiyai Shin again demonstrated why she's a links maestro as she capitalised on Korda's struggles to take a one-shot lead into Sunday's final round at the home of golf.
The 36-year-old South Korean, champion in 2008 and 2012, looks in the mood to make it a hat-trick after she even tamed the infamous 'Road Hole' 17th in spectacular fashion on Saturday.
Shin struck a glorious fairway wood to within two foot of the flag to pick up her seventh birdie of the round before going on to complete a five-under par 67 to set the target at seven under for the tournament.
“I couldn’t see where ball finished because my height,” the 1.57m Shin laughed.
“I can hear a lot of claps but I couldn’t see where they finished. And then when I come up to the hole, like wow, so close!”
But Korda, who had led by three at the start of the day, endured a tough time as she pursued her own third major title, capped by driving out of bounds at the 16th on her way to a three-over 75.
But her new putter, so effective the rest of the week, betrayed her this time. She also missed short ones to record bogeys at her first two holes, missed another four-footer at 12 for par and one from five foot a hole later.
The driving calamity on 16 was then compounded by her bogeying the Road Hole, before a birdie at the last at least kept her at five under, two behind Shin and one back from defending champion Lilia Vu, who also recorded a birdie at the last for a 71.
“It’s nice to finish with a birdie,” Korda sighed. "But it wasn’t the best of days.”
Others still in the thick of the hunt are New Zealand's Olympic champion Lydia Ko (71) and Jenny Shin (70), tied for fourth at four under.
Australia's last hope, Steph Kyriacou, had an uneven round, with three birdies making up for three bogeys in her 72, but at level-par in joint-19th position, she will need a monumental final day to claw back a seven-shot deficit.
Grace Kim, the other other Aussie to make the cut from among the seven starters, is tied for 70th place at five over after her one-over par 73.
Strong-finishing leader Shin, who is nicknamed the 'Final-Round Queen' with good reason, now has a golden opportunity to join Australian great Karrie Webb as a three-time Open champ, not to mention picking up a winner's cheque for $US1,425,000 ($A2.1 million).
"This is my third time at St Andrews. That's how much I've played it, for so long," she smiled.
"I have a lot of experience with links course and with not tough wind like this, but I pretty much have a lot of good experience.
"So that's why I take all my skill today. The wind is nice to me today and I made two bogeys, but I think everyone can make one or two bogeys. So this is nothing! I just keep focusing forward."
