Nelly Korda's Saturday Surge Ends With Share of U.S. Women's Open Lead

PACIFIC PALISADES, Ca. — To quote Lenny Kravitz's 1991 hit, "it ain't over, 'til it's over". With just 18 holes to go and a bunched leaderboard full of the LPGA's biggest stars—it's safe to say that this championship is going to deliver an all-time finish.

Let's kick it off with Charley Hull, who delivered a birdie fest around Riv and then the greatest major press conference moment of the year. Personally, I love when players drop an f-bomb because it's golf...and lord knows it'll make you cuss!

Hull's 6-under, 65 was the low round, not just of the day but of the week (!!) and catapulted her up the leaderboard, despite her having the earliest tee time of the top-10. The Brit started this championship off a bit rocky, going 73-72, so what was the difference?

"I found the greens hard to read in the first couple of days, and then because they're not as fast as I thought they was going to be," Hull shared when asked about what the hardest part about this golf course is. "Some putts I just left short downhill and I'm like, that should have rolled out. Probably good that they haven't gotten too fast."

Those putts were certainly dropping today as she carded seven birdies and just one bogey.

Though she's come close in the past, Hull is still looking to capture her first major. To do so at Riv would be an epic come-from-behind fight, equipped with the perfect Hollywood backdrop. But it'll be an uphill climb with her sitting three shots back of co-leaders Nelly Korda and Sei Young Kim of Korea.

I've said all week that this kind of feels like Korda's to lose even after her shakey two-over start on Thursday, and there's still 18 holes of golf to be played with plenty of star power looking to finish the job—major winner Jennifer Kupcho finds herself in the mix along with In Gee Chun who won the 2015 championship at Lancaster—but man...it's hard not to jump the gun.

The World No. 1 is actively working through some swing tweaks thanks to big sis Jess, but looked in complete control on Saturday afternoon, capping off her round with three consecutive birdies.

"We're playing in a major championship so it's going to test every part of your game. You're not going to hit solid shots off the tee, solid shots into the green. It's just kind of all about grinding," Korda said after her round. "Major championships are about grinding and then kind of when have you that little window to be aggressive, you really have to take it. So I'm really happy with how I grinded out the front nine and then took the opportunities that I had on the last three holes."

RELATED: Is The U.S. Women's Open Nelly Korda's Masters?

And then there's Sei Young Kim, a 13-time winner on the LPGA, including the 2020 KPMG Women's PGA Championship, who fired a 3-under round on Saturday to play herself into the final pairing where she will be rocking her signature red pants, which she wears as an homage to Tiger Woods.

Woods has never won here at Rivera, so Kim is looking to be the one to rock the signature color and hoist the Harton S. Semple Trophy.

Bring on Sunday.