Japan’s Haru Nomura continued to carry her three-shot leading cushion now into Sunday’s final round of the Swinging Skirts LPGA Classic.

Nomura carded a 1-under 71 on Saturday at the Lake Merced Golf Club in Daly City, moving to a 54-hole total of double-digit 10-under. Runners-up, South African Lee-Anne Pace and South Korean Na Yeon Choi are both at 7-under 209.

Canadian Brooke Henderson finds herself on the leaderboard again after posting a 3-under 69. She climbed back into a tie for fourth at 5-under 211 with veteran Scot Catriona Matthew (71), American Gerina Piller (72), and Korea’s So Yeon Ryu (73).

Nomura captured her first career win this year in February at the ISPS Handa Australian Open, having also led after 54 holes, where she used a final-round 65 to fend off world number one Lydia Ko.

Ko, who is in search of a “three-peat” in this event, had to overcome a three-stroke disadvantage in the final round last year to outshine 54-hole leader and fellow teenager Henderson, and then held off American Morgan Pressel after a sudden-death play-off.

But now, the birthday girl on Sunday sits six shots back of lead. Ko shot a third-round 73 to catch up with overnight leader Minjee Lee, who put up a 74. The pair is at 4-under 212. Ko will turned nineteen years old tomorrow.

If Nomura can take the win tomorrow, she will become just the second Japanese player ever to notch two LPGA victories in one season since Ai Miyazato in 2012.

“You can say it’s confidence, or just about anything. I’m just feeling very comfortable with my golf right now,” said Nomura. “I’m simply trying to enjoy it. I don’t feel like I need to beat anyone. The only thing I’m thinking is simply to have fun out there.”

On the chances of getting the third Swinging Skirts LPGA Classic win in a row, Lydia Ko said, “I’ve just got to stay positive. It will be my birthday anyway, so there’s a lot more things that can keep me upbeat. I’m just going to enjoy every minute. I feel very fortunate and proud to be getting this close to the three-peat, and hopefully more putts will fall on Sunday.”

LPGA veteran Candie Kung (龔怡萍) bounced back from a 79 yesterday, carding a 74 to move back inside the top 30 at T29 and 2-over 218. CTBC spokesplayers Cheng Ssu-Chia (程思嘉) (220), Lin Tzu-Chi (林子麒) (221), Hsu Wei-Lin (徐薇凌) (221), Swinging Skirts Golf Team ambassador Lee Min (李旻) (221), and amateur talent Chang Ya Chun (張雅淳) (221) are the other five Taiwanese players who will seek to steal away the low Taiwanese honor.

Paired with each other on Saturday, Kung and Hsu both felt good comfort on the course. “We both have similar, clean routines with quite a fast tempo. So yeah, it was fun. No pressure,” said Kung.

“It was a messy day on my part, though. I got a lot of things going on and I was constantly in trouble. I didn’t really get the chance to watch Candie play and learn from her that much,” said Hsu of the third-round pairing. “But it felt very comfortable playing with such an experienced player like Candie.”

Hsu made two birdies, five bogeys, and one double bogey, which happened on the 16th where she needed four shots to make it to the green. “I need to work on it and figure it out on the range because a lot of shots were going to the right,” said Hsu. “But my bunker shots have been pretty good this week, which is a great improvement because I used to be kind of timid up against them. This gives me a lot of confidence.”

Kung recorded two birdies, a chip-in from 26 yards on the fifth hole and a perfect downhill 8-footer on the final hole, against four bogeys. “There’s some strange wind like on and off on a couple of holes. I got affected a bit. Apart from that, I think it’s been pretty consistent golf for me today. I will try to keep up the rhythm tomorrow.”

Cheng only hit 7 of 14 fairways and 8 of 18 greens in regulations, but she finished another steady round thanks to effective combination of irons and putter. She needed just 27 putts and the longest birdie putt was on Hole 14 from 18 feet.

“It’s tough with these the pins because a lot of them were tucked in the corners, especially with the wind blowing. I tried to still go for the flags and I’m pretty happy with how I’ve been playing aggressive, and I will keep on doing that on Sunday,” Cheng said.

This is the first year Lin survives the cut in the LPGA and TLPGA co-sanctioned tournament. “My putter kind of let me down. I missed about five putts, all within just about five or six feet. Many wasted birdie chances,” said Lin, who took 31 putts.

Tying with Lin, Lee gave away an even worse 36 putts during the third round, including two “three-putts”. “I actually did not feel I played that bad, but the putts would just miss by a hair. Not so lucky with my putter today.” Lee’s only birdie came at the par-5, 6th hole, where she only needed two shots to reach the green.

15-year-old Chang’s birdie effort also on the 6th hole gave her the mental break to regroup from a sluggish start to round three. She made five bogeys on the first five holes. “I didn’t feel too bad. I mean, yes, I got off to a slow start but I knew I was actually hitting pretty well, just the pins being really difficult to get close to. I tried to attack but kind of miscalculated and over-hit a few,” said Chang. “The birdie on the sixth was a big relief. I ended the day with another good birdie holing out from 36 feet on the 18, which made the day a little better.” Chang improved from a front-nine 40 to a back-nine even-par 36, totaling three birdies, five bogeys and one double-bogey on the scorecard.

“I’ve got nothing to lose. I will give just everything I can and hopefully a great finish,” said Chang. “The whole process has been an amazing learning experience and I will have no regret.”

Final-round play begins at 7:08 in the morning. Nomura and Pace will be in the final pairing teeing off at 1:45 in the afternoon.

The Swinging Skirts LPGA Classic presented by CTBC is the first tournament of Taiwanese roots held on the United States soil. It is also the first co-sanction partnership between the LPGA and the LPGA of Taiwan. The event was founded in 2014 and CTBC Bank has been a main sponsor since. Eva Air, a perpetual supporter of the Swinging Skirts Golf Team, is proudly the Official Airline company.