Ko, Jutanugarn set for LPGA finale showdown

Lydia Ko and Ariya Jutanugarn will settle the LPGA Tour's biggest awards and prizes Sunday at Tiburon. They're chasing Charley Hull in the CME Group Tour Championship at Naples, Fla.

"I think it's going to be a very interesting Sunday," Ko said Saturday after dropping into a tie for fourth in the season finale.

Ko needs a victory to top Jutanugarn in the player of the year race, and also would take the season points title and $1 million CME Globe bonus with a win. Ko also is fighting Jutanugarn for the money title and Chun for the Vare Trophy for the lowest scoring average.

"It's simple: I got win to get it." Ko said. "That's why no matter what position I am, I'm the chaser. So, I think that almost puts less pressure on me, where I'm not thinking about where I am exactly. I'm trying to make as many birdies as I can and give myself those opportunities."

Hull birdied all four par-5 holes in a bogey-free 6-under 66 on Saturday to take a one-stroke lead over Brittany Lincicome (66) and So Yeon Ryu (69) and two-stroke advantage over Ko (73), Jutanugarn (65), Chun (68), Jennifer Song (66) and Lizette Salas (67).

"Just kind of kept in the zone," Hull said. "I felt like I hit it pretty decent, better than I did yesterday. I holed a few putts and got up-and-down when I needed to. ... I'm happy with my score and looking forward to tomorrow."

The 20-year-old Hull, from England, had a 13-under 203 total. She's winless on the tour.

"It was scoreable out there," Hull said. "I don't understand why everyone has dropped back. Obviously, it is tricky little golf course on some shots, like 18. You've got a good finishing hole."

The top-ranked Ko began the day with a three-shot lead after shooting a 63 on Friday.

"I just got to stay patient." The 19-year-old New Zealander said. "I don't think like I did something horribly or drastically different. Probably those little things. If you tug it a bit on a right-to-left wind, for example, on the 18th hole, it's going to look like much more of that draw or pull."

Jutanugarn had seven birdies in a bogey-free round.

"I just try to focus shot by shot, not think about outcome and not think about like too much future," Jutanugarn said. "I'm ready to have fun and be happy on the course. I don't know I can win or not, but I'm going to do my best."

The 20-year-old Thai star leads the tour with five victories, one more than Ko.

"This year is like great for me," Jutanugarn said. "I know tomorrow going to be a lot of pressure, but I'm just going to do my best and whatever going to happen I still love my year this year."

First-round leader Shanshan Feng was tied for 12th at 8 under after a 69. The Chinese star is coming off consecutive victories in Malaysia and Japan.

Hughes keeps his poise and the lead at Sea Island

Mackenzie Hughes atoned for a triple bogey that cost him the lead by making a tough par save and three birdies for a 2-under 68, giving the Canadian rookie a one-shot advantage going into the final round of the RSM Classic at St. Simons Island, Ga.

Next up at Sea Island is 18 holes in the final group with Billy Horschel and Camilo Villegas.

"Everyone will be fighting the same nerves," Hughes said.

Five events into his rookie season, the 25-year-old Hughes showed plenty of poise. He had gone bogey-free for the first 46 hole of the tournament when he tried to do too much from an awkward lie in fairway bunker on No. 11. The ball stayed in the bunker in a depressed lie, and he compounded his mistakes by dumping his third shot into another bunker, and then three-putting when he finally reached the green.

"I was like, 'This hole is never going to end,'" he said. "It finally did, and it worked out all right."

He followed with perhaps his most important shot of the tournament, a pitch from 50 feet over a steep slope to a back pin to tap-in range to save par. Then he added three birdies with his smooth putting stroke to reach 16-under 196.

Horschel, who hasn't won since the Tour Championship two years ago when he captured the FedEx Cup, holed a 10-foot birdie putt on the 18th hole of the Seaside course at Sea Island for a 65. Villegas overcame a double bogey early in his round and finished with four straight birdies for a 64.

Joining them at 15-under 197 was another PGA Tour rookie, C.T. Pan of Taiwan. He shot a 67 playing in the final group.

More than costing Hughes a big lead, that triple bogey made the final round of the year on the PGA Tour far more bunched than it needed to be. Ten players were within four shots of the lead, a group that included Charles Howell III (13-under 199) and Stewart Cink (12-under 200).

Horschel has slipped to No. 76 in the world since his big FedEx Cup run in 2014. He has worked hard on his short game and feels that turning around, and he believes the windy conditions after two days of calm might have helped someone who hits the ball as crisply as he does.

He thinks experience will play a role, too.

"There's some young guys up there on the leaderboard that haven't been in ... obviously, they've won other times, but out on the PGA Tour it's a little bit different. But it all depends on what kind of conditions we get. I would to have similar conditions today because I think the better player shows up in these conditions."

Villegas also has gone two years without a victory, and he lost his card this year and only got into the tournament as a past champion. One week could change everything.

"Let me tell you something, it's 18 more holes of golf. I'm feeling good," Villegas said. "I've been a lot more comfortable than I have been. I think it's all about having the mind in the right place. My shots when I'm calm out there are pretty good and hopefully we can accomplish that tomorrow. I think the leaderboard is jam-packed as always. We're playing the PGA Tour, the best players in the world, but I've got to wake up tomorrow believing I can do it."

Pan, a former No. 1 amateur when he was at Washington, when from four shots behind to a one-shot lead in a span of two holes when he rolled in a pair of birdies and Hughes made a mess of the 11th hole. Pan dropped a shot on the next hole with a wild tee shot that the wind made look worse, but he was never out of position the rest of the way.

Hughes, who got married in his only week off this fall, has led at Sea Island from his opening 61 on the Seaside course. After that superb up-and-down following his triple bogey, he hit two good tee shots into the wind and with the wind blowing off St. Simons Sound, and he rolled in medium-length birdie putts to make up for the dropped shots at No. 11.

"It was nice to bounce back and to feel like I'm going this way, not stepping back," Hughes said.