Korda 1 stroke back in suspended 3rd round of Chevron Championship as she chases 5th straight win

THE WOODLANDS, Texas (AP) — Nelly Korda was one shot off the lead at the Chevron Championship when the third round was suspended Saturday because of lightning in the area.

Play at Carlton Woods was halted just before 3 p.m. and called for the day two-and-a-half hours later with dangerous conditions remaining. The third round of the LPGA's first major of the season will resume Sunday morning, with the final round scheduled to commence just before 9:30 a.m.

Korda, who is trying to tie an LPGA Tour record with her fifth straight victory, was 3-under 41 through 11 holes in the third round and 10 under overall. She entered Saturday one shot off the lead after posting a 7-under 137 through the first two rounds.

The top-ranked Korda is seeking her second major after winning the Women’s PGA Championship in 2021. She could join Nancy Lopez (1978) and Annika Sorenstam (2004-05) as the only players to win five consecutive LPGA events.

Korda was asked about the challenges of having to finish the third round Sunday before playing the final round.

“I think you just have to try to be positive about it and just tell yourself that you can’t get caught up in possibly girls being on 18 or not having that many holes left,” she said. “If you think about it positively, then I have a lot of opportunities left in the day that I can go out and maybe capitalize on a couple of them, then that’s good. But I’m going to think about it positively rather than negatively.”

Canadian Brooke Henderson, who was at 2-under 142 through two rounds, rocketed up the leaderboard and into a tie with Korda for second Saturday by shooting an 8-under 59 through 17 holes.

“It was on six when I made that par save,” Henderson said. “It really kept my round alive, and then from there I was able to get things going. It was really fun to kind of get on a bit of a run. I feel like this year I’ve just played pretty solid, but I haven’t really seen that run and kind of had that excitement. That was really fun for me today, and hopefully just do something similar tomorrow.”

Henderson, who has 13 LPGA wins with two majors, had a one-putt streak of 10 with six birdies and an eagle in that stretch.

“Anytime my putter gets to working, I’m pretty happy because ball-striking is usually a strength of mine,” she said. “This week I’ve been hitting it really well, so when I’ve been able to make a few putts, it feels really good, and hopefully keep it hot tomorrow.”

Atthaya Thitikul had the lead at 11 under and was through 12 holes when play was suspended. She started the round tied with Jin Hee Im for the lead with a 136 in the first two rounds.

Thitikul, a 21-year-old from Thailand who has won twice on the LPGA Tour and missed the beginning of this season with a thumb injury, was asked about how she expects the normally firm greens to play Sunday, with rain expected to continue overnight.

“The greens are going to play a little bit easier, but the drives, other things may be harder,” she said. “I don’t know what it’s going to be like because some holes we have the wind, and it’s helped. Maybe you have a bunker on the way and then you can get over it. But if it’s soft and kind of like not dry, then maybe you couldn’t get over some holes.”

Im was in fourth place at 9 under Saturday through 11 holes.

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Jin Hee Im, of South Korea, measures her approach shot on the 10th hole during the third round of the Chevron Championship LPGA golf tournament Saturday, April 20, 2024, at The Club at Carlton Woods, in The Woodlands, Texas. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)

Jin Hee Im, of South Korea, hits from fairway to the 10th green during the third round of the Chevron Championship LPGA golf tournament Saturday, April 20, 2024, at The Club at Carlton Woods, in The Woodlands, Texas. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)

Atthaya Thitikul, of Thailand, hits from the fairway on the second hole during the third round of the Chevron Championship LPGA golf tournament Saturday, April 20, 2024, at The Club at Carlton Woods, in The Woodlands, Texas. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip )

Atthaya Thitikul, of Thailand, hits from the second tee during the third round of the Chevron Championship LPGA golf tournament Saturday, April 20, 2024, at The Club at Carlton Woods, in The Woodlands, Texas. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip)

Atthaya Thitikul, of Thailand, hits from the sixth tee during the third round of the Chevron Championship LPGA golf tournament Saturday, April 20, 2024, at The Club at Carlton Woods, in The Woodlands, Texas. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)

Brooke Henderson, of Canada, and her caddie walk over a bridge on the 15th hole during the third round of the Chevron Championship LPGA golf tournament Saturday, April 20, 2024, at The Club at Carlton Woods, in The Woodlands, Texas. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip)

Brooke Henderson, of Canada, hits from the 16th tee during the third round of the Chevron Championship LPGA golf tournament Saturday, April 20, 2024, at The Club at Carlton Woods, in The Woodlands, Texas. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip)

Brooke Henderson, of Canada, leaves the course during as play is stopped due to weather during the third round of the Chevron Championship LPGA golf tournament Saturday, April 20, 2024, at The Club at Carlton Woods, in The Woodlands, Texas. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip)

Nelly Korda follows her shot on the sixth tee during the third round of the Chevron Championship LPGA golf tournament Saturday, April 20, 2024, at The Club at Carlton Woods, in The Woodlands, Texas. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)

Nelly Korda reacts to a missed putt on the seventh green during the third round of the Chevron Championship LPGA golf tournament Saturday, April 20, 2024, at The Club at Carlton Woods, in The Woodlands, Texas. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)

Nelly Korda hits from the 11th tee during the third round of the Chevron Championship LPGA golf tournament Saturday, April 20, 2024, at The Club at Carlton Woods, in The Woodlands, Texas. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)

WASHINGTON (AP) — The nation’s employers pulled back on their hiring in April but still added a decent 175,000 jobs in a sign that persistently high interest rates may be starting to slow the robust U.S. job market.

Friday’s government report showed that last month’s hiring gain was down sharply from the blockbuster increase of 315,000 in March. And it was well below the 233,000 gain that economists had predicted for April.

Yet the moderation in the pace of hiring, along with a slowdown last month in wage growth, will likely be welcomed by the Federal Reserve, which has kept interest rates at a two-decade high to fight persistently elevated inflation. Hourly wages rose a less-than-expected 0.2% from March and 3.9% from a year earlier, the smallest annual gain since June 2021.

The Fed has been delaying any consideration of interest rate cuts until it gains more confidence that inflation is steadily slowing toward its 2% target. Rate cuts by the central bank would, over time, reduce the cost of mortgages, auto loans and other consumer and business borrowing.

Stock prices jumped and bond yields fell Friday after the jobs report was released on hopes that rate cuts might now be more likely sometime in the coming months.

“A slowdown in payrolls to a decent pace to start the second quarter, coupled with a slowing in wage gains, will be welcome news to (the Fed’s) policymakers," said Rubeela Farooqi, chief U.S. economist at High Frequency Economics. “Current readings also support the view that rates cuts – and not hikes – are the base case scenario for the Fed this year.’’

The state of the economy is weighing on voters’ minds as the November presidential campaign intensifies. Despite the strength of the job market, Americans remain generally exasperated by high prices, and many of them assign blame to President Joe Biden.

Even with the April hiring slowdown, last month’s job growth amounted to a solid increase, though it was the lowest monthly gain since October. With the nation’s households continuing their steady spending, many employers have had to keep hiring to meet their customer demand.

Though the unemployment rate ticked up from 3.8% to 3.9% in April, it was the 27th straight month in which the rate has remained below 4%, tying the longest such streak since the 1960s.

Last month's hiring was led by healthcare companies, which added 56,000 jobs. Warehouse and transportation companies added 22,000 and retailers 20,000. Government at all levels, which had been hiring aggressively, added just 8,000 jobs in April, the lowest monthly total since December 2022.

Local governments didn’t add any jobs at all last month. Paul Ashworth of Capital Economics noted that state and local government revenue has recently slumped.

Temporary help jobs fell by more than 16,000. These positions are often seen as a potential indicator of where the job market is headed because companies sometimes try out temps before committing to full-time hires.

The share of the adult population that either has a job or is looking for one was unchanged at 62.7%, well below pre-pandemic levels.

America’s job market has repeatedly proved more robust than almost anyone had predicted. When the Fed began aggressively raising rates two years ago to fight a punishing inflation surge, most economists expected the resulting jump in borrowing costs to cause a recession and drive unemployment to painfully high levels.

The Fed raised its benchmark rate 11 times from March 2022 to July 2023, taking it to the highest level since 2001. Inflation did steadily cool as it was supposed to — from a year-over-year peak of 9.1% in June 2022 to 3.5% in March.

Yet the resilient strength of the job market and the overall economy, fueled by steady consumer spending, has kept inflation persistently above the Fed’s 2% target.

The job market has been showing other signs of eventually slowing. This week, for example, the government reported that job openings fell in March to 8.5 million, the fewest in more than three years. Still, that is nevertheless a large number of vacancies: Before 2021, monthly job openings had never topped 8 million, a threshold they have now exceeded every month since March 2021.

On a month-over-month basis, consumer inflation hasn’t declined since October. The 3.5% year-over-year inflation rate for March was still running well above the Fed’s 2% target.

FILE - Social worker Lupita Armijo-Garcia works at her desk in the Ottawa County, Mich., Department of Public Health office, Sept. 5, 2023, in Holland, Mich. On Friday, May 3, 2024, the U.S. government issues its April jobs report. (AP Photo/Kristen Norman)

FILE - Math teacher Margie Howells teaches a fifth grade class at Wheeling Country Day School in Wheeling, WV, on Tuesday, Sept. 5, 2023. On Friday, May 3, 2024, the U.S. government issues its April jobs report. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar, File)

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