HOUSTON — Nelly Korda stretched her lead to eight shots Saturday until missing a series of short putts that caused her to settle for a 2-under 70 and a five-shot lead in The Chevron Championship, the largest 54-hole lead of her career.But the work is not over. Korda looked close to unbeatable for so long with another clinic controlling her irons on the heavily sloped greens of Memorial Park. And then the gap began to shrink as her contenders did just enough to stay in range.“I played really solid on the front and then just kind of … not may have lost concentration, but the wind started picking up and then I just put myself into great positions (and) didn’t kind of execute really well,” Korda said.The heat and humidity also took a toll, and Korda often walked the fairways with an umbrella to shield her from the sun. Patty Tavatanakit, who went 48 holes without a bogey before making one on the 13th, bounced back with a pair of birdies over the last five holes for a 69 to get within five shots.It was a remarkable scrambling performance for Tavatanakit, who won this major as a rookie in 2021. She got up-and-down seven times, missing out only on the 13th.Ruoning Yin of China, a Women’s PGA champion and former No. 1 in the world, shot 66 and was six shots behind along with Pauline Roussin-Bouchard of France, who had a 67.“I just don’t really make mistakes and I’ve been hitting well and putting well,” Yin said. “Everything is going the right direction.”Korda was at 16-under 200 to tie the tournament record set by Jennifer Kupcho in 2022, the last year the major was at Mission Hills in the California de …
