Golf: Lydia Ko back in hunt for victory at Scottish Open

Lydia Ko before her round at the Scottish Open. Photo / Getty

Lydia Ko looks to have moved on fairly quickly from last week's meltdown at the Marathon Classic by surging up the leaderboard at the Ladies Scottish Open.

Ko carded the lowest round of the day at the Renaissance Club in North Berwick by shooting a four-under 67 to jump from 13th into a share of fourth heading into the final round, three shots behind Spanish leader Azahara Munoz.

Ko had four birdies and no bogies on Saturday to move to four-under for the tournament.

It is just the second time Ko has made the weekend of the Scottish Open and she prepares for next weekend's British Open at Royal Troon.

Despite 20 professional wins over her career, Ko has never won in the United Kingdom. She has five wins on the Ladies European Tour, although four of those were in Australasia along with the Evian Championship major victory in 2015.

Her performance over the first three rounds in Scotland is a quick response by the 23-year-old New Zealander who looked all set to earn her first win since 2018 in Ohio on Monday before squandering a five-shot lead over the final six holes, including a double bogey on the 72nd hole.

She didn't have much time to dwell on the second place behind Danielle Kang, heading on a chartered flight to the UK hours after her downfall at the Marathon Classic.

Ko said the quick turnaround has worked in her favour.

"Having a tournament right after makes you focus on what's right there in front of you. That made me less think about what happened at Marathon," she said this morning.

"Links golf is a little bit different so I've just been focusing on what's now and not getting too carried away about what happened because most of it was some of the best golf I've played in a long time."

Two-time major winner Stacy Lewis sits one back from leader Munoz, while fellow American Jennifer Song is a further shot back at five-under.

Solheim Cup star Munoz has not won an LPGA Tour event since she captured the 2012 Sybase Match Play Championship in New Jersey.

"I think I literally hit every fairway, lots of greens," Munoz said. "Maybe I couldn't make a few more putts today but still made some nice ones, some nice par saves."

Two-time major winner Lewis is a former top-ranked player and a 12-time LPGA Tour champion. She is looking for her first win in nearly three years — since when she gave birth to her first child, Chesnee — to take into next week's Women's British Open, which she won in 2013.