THE MODERATOR: 15-under par with a three-stroke lead heading into the final round. And we'll open it up to questions.
Q. What are you most happy about today?
NELLY KORDA: That I can go inside and eat. And then go and work on my irons probably that's what I'm most happy about right now.
Q. What were you most happy about on the golf course?
NELLY KORDA: Probably my fight. I didn't have a really good back nine, I was kind of spraying it all over the place, I had some testy par putts, but made all pars and I fought really hard to stay in it really or ahead of it.
Q. Did you find any, when you made the bogey on 8, did you feel that cost you any momentum?
NELLY KORDA: No, I mean not really. No. I mean it was very upsetting that I bogeyed a par-5, there's something inside of me when I bogey a par-5 that I just get so frustrated about because I shouldn't be doing that. But, no, I mean I kept telling myself that there's more opportunities ahead. Unfortunately, I didn't really get that bunker shot on that other next par-5 on the back nine really wasn't easy at all, I had to go down a ridge and then up a ridge. So yeah, I made some mistakes, but I also, it wasn't really easy out there with the positions I was in.
Q. Given the situation with the weather tomorrow did you play with anymore urgency today than maybe you would have in a nor Hal round?
NELLY KORDA: No. My mindset is 72 holes so I'm sticking to that. I'm trying to give myself opportunities and make them, that's all. I'm trying to stay as present as possible and see how it goes.
Q. You mentioned this yesterday, I think you said you switched to left hand low at the British last year.
NELLY KORDA: Yeah, I switched to left hand low, at British and then I went back to the just conventional putting at the beginning of this year. So actually I won in Nona with my like what I would say is regular putting. Then after U.S. Open I went back to left hand low.
Q. How much confidence does that give you? If you look at what you've done, statistically it seems like you're much better at left hand low, is that a confidence?
NELLY KORDA: Yeah, for sure I feel way more confident over it. I know that my chest and my arms move more together and I just feel like there's less room for mistakes for me with left hand low.
Q. Did you get a drop on 18?
NELLY KORDA: No, I didn't get a drop, but my ball was sitting on a wire, so I just removed the wire and then I placed the ball back to where it originally was.
Q. I wanted to go back to what you said a minute ago which was a little under stated, kind of the fight you had today. Given the way you felt your swing was, is this a round that could have gotten away from you if you didn't?
NELLY KORDA: Oh, for sure, yeah. If I was just sloppy and kind of didn't fight the way I did I could have definitely shot a couple over par on the back nine, I mean easily. I had a couple testy par putts, but I never give up, so...
Q. Is there any part of you as you're playing with Aditi that impresses you? The fact that she's a thousand miles behind off the tee and just still manages to hang in there?
NELLY KORDA: She's a really solid putter. Like she's a sneaky player. She putts incredibly well. She rolls it really nicely and there's this kind of like confidence she has on the putting green. She has some kind of swag on the putting green and she owns it, she does well on the putting green.
Q. A couple of Japanese golfers in contention. Does that bring any sort of added excitement to you for tomorrow if maybe Mone's in your group, that the sort of feeling that this even though there are no spectators that it might get even more of a buzz?
NELLY KORDA: No, for me not really, no. As I said, I'm trying to stay as present as possible. I'm trying to stick to my game plan, trying to execute it. Obviously there's going to be times where I'm going to not hit a shot well and that's going to stray me from my game plan but I'm just really keeping my mind stuck to my game plan.
Q. You looked like on the course as though nerves are just never an issue and emotion doesn't come into it. Is that what it's going on inside or do we see something different?
NELLY KORDA: I've been actually really calm the last three days. I haven't really gotten nervous. I think I was a little nervous obviously on 18, it's not a really easy chip from back over the green, but other than that I've handled myself really well this week, I've tried to stay as present as possible. I'm really working on that this year, just to take it shot by shot and stay present and not to look too far ahead or kind of go back on I think about mistakes that I've made in the past.
Q. Speaking about present, do you ever or have you ever found yourself allowing yourself to look ahead to what it would mean to have a gold medal or a KPMG title in Atlanta or any of those tournaments?
NELLY KORDA: Oh, yeah, I feel like everyone does it, for sure. But that's when you need to take a step back and be like, Okay, you know, there's still 18 more holes to go, there's still a lot that can happen. Today I wasn't hitting it well and just because I was making those par putts today it may be different or tomorrow could be different, you never know. So I try to remind myself, even though I think about it, I quickly shake my head and I'm like, No, no, it's not there yet, we're not there, we still have a lot, a long way to go.
Q. Did you hope to at some point separate yourself even more than you did this afternoon?
NELLY KORDA: I mean, yeah, I feel like that's kind of the goal going into every round is to play the best I possibly can and maybe get a comfortable lead. But that's the thing about golf, once you get a little too comfortable it humbles you when you start making mistakes and you get ahead of yourself. So, yeah, I would have loved to have had -- I mean obviously no one's ever going to complain about a bigger lead going into a final round, but I'm happy with where I'm at.
Q. Going back to what you just said, did you feel like you might have gotten a little too comfortable?
NELLY KORDA: No, I just think that I just kind of got a little sloppy maybe with my swing, so I need to go to the range and kind of video it and check it out.
Q. Your thoughts on what they have done with the tees in terms of moving some up, back, of what you and any of them get your attention, do you like what they're doing?
NELLY KORDA: Yeah, I mean I kind of wish they put No. 5 up today, I liked that. And then, I mean, I reached number, the par-5 on the back in two. I've reached that in two every single day. Because a lot of girls kind of hit 3-wood just right of the bunker, but I can carry the bunker so I just send it over. I honestly like that they have moved up No. 6 as well for it to be a reachable hole. I know the person that is setting up this week usually sets up KPMG and I usually, we all really like the way KPMG is set up because it's usually setup for longer players, advantage to them. So I feel like they have been doing a really good job this week.
Q. Yesterday with 18 being up, did you like that or would you rather see that a little bit more back for the final day?
NELLY KORDA: There was a little mistake on 18. We didn't know it was up and that's why I hit it where I hit it yesterday. So, yeah, I wasn't very happy about that one.
Q. Would you like to see it play all the way back for a final round?
NELLY KORDA: 18? I mean, it depends where the pin is. Like if the -- it made sense for the pin that they had yesterday to move it up because it would be really hard for girls to come in with really long clubs to that pin. So it honestly just depends on where they put the pin.
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