JAMES CITY — Time was when being atop the leaderboard would have gotten to her. Not anymore, because two weeks ago, Ariya Jutanugarn became a champion.
Having been there and done that, Jutanugarn overcame Saturday’s soggy conditions for a third-round 65, which gave her the lead at 10-under heading into the final day of the Kingsmill Championship. She now has a chance to be the second player this year to win in back-to-back events.
“Normally, if I’m tied for the lead or one shot behind, I get a little bit excited,” Jutanugarn said. “But today, I’m not. I’m just like, keep playing my game and have fun, enjoy every shot. Tomorrow will be so much fun because we’ll be playing with the weather and tough conditions. I just want to do my best. Have fun and enjoy. Whatever happens, I’ll just take it. Because right now, everything is good for me.”
Jutanugarn has a one-shot lead over In Gee Chun, who tied the tournament record with a 9-under 62, Pornanong Phatlum and second-round leader So Yeon Ryu. Laetitia Beck, Amy Yang and defending champion Minjee Lee are two shots back at 8-under.
Three-time champion Cristie Kerr, who shot 64 Saturday, heads a group of seven players at 7-under.
Saturday’s conditions were difficult, but they were expected to be worse. Because of heavy overnight rain, the first group didn’t tee off until noon. Another storm was expected to come through around 4 p.m. but never did.
With more rain in the forecast Sunday, the start times have been moved up to 7 a.m. The leaders are expected to tee off at about 9 a.m.
Jutanugarn, a 20-year-old native of Thailand, came here on a roll. After three consecutive finishes of 30th or worse, she broke through to win the Yokohama Tire LPGA Classic with a score of 14-under. It was her third-round 63 that did it.
Saturday, in hardly ideal conditions on the River Course, she was masterful with six birdies and no bogeys. When she birdied No. 17 to go 10-under, she pulled into a tie with Ryu. But Ryu, who had birdied No. 18 the previous day, made bogey to drop to 9-under.
Phatlum, also from Thailand, was at 6-under before hitting a hot streak by making birdies on Nos. 15, 16 and 17. She’s where Jutanugarn was two weeks ago — looking for her first win.
“There’s a lot of good competitors out here, and of course everybody is here to win,” Phatlum said. “I only focus on my game, and some of the week it just came all together. When that happens, hopefully it’s going to come soon.
“Right now I have confidence, so that’s what I’ve been working on,” Phatlum continued. “Maybe tomorrow I’ll be a bit nervous, but right now just try to be relaxed and get ready for tomorrow.”
The round of the day was turned in by Chun, a 21-year-old rookie from South Korea. Beginning the day at even par, she birdied three holes on the back (her front) nine. But that was nothing compared to what followed.
Starting with No. 4, Chun made birdies on each of her last six holes. She’s probably done that before at some point of her life, but not in a tournament like this, and not in these conditions.
“I didn’t catch that I made six birdies,” Chun said. “I was just focused on my game.”
Also handling the conditions was Kerr, who had seven birdies and no bogeys to lift herself into a tie for eighth. Beck had her third solid day in a row with five birdies and no bogeys.