AP JERSEY CITY, N.J.: Jeeno Thitikul handled a strong wind and a double bogey at the turn by making nine birdies Saturday for a 7-under 65 that gave her a one-shot lead over Celine Boutier going into the final round of the Mizuho Americas Open.

Defending champion Nelly Korda missed a pair of birdie opportunities on the back nine at Liberty National and settled for a 68, leaving her only two shots behind as the No. 1 player in women’s golf goes for her first win of the year.

The LPGA Tour moved up several tees to account for wind strong enough to bend flagsticks, particularly on the closing stretch at Liberty National. That led to some big finishes as players positioned themselves for the final round.

Thitikul, the No. 2 player in women’s golf, was among those who took advantage. She birdied the reachable par-4 16th with water down the right side, picked up another birdie on the 17th and finished at 14-under 202.

“The strategies for today, I just trying to keep it on the fairway and then on the green,” Thitikul said. “I know it’s going to be a really tough day and then I have to be patient out there. So I don’t know how I did that, but like I take it.”

Boutier rolled in a 40-foot birdie putt over a ridge on the 15th — that was a bonus — for the start of three straight birdies. She made par on the 18th for a 66 to leave her one shot behind.

“It was a nice setup today,” Boutier said. “I feel like it was challenging with the wind, but the setup made it possible to have some chances if you were hitting good.”

Korda tried to keep pace with Thitikul and rolled in a 15-foot birdie putt from just off the green at the par-3 14th, which runs along the Hudson River across from the Manhattan skyline. But her drive on the 16th left her a bad angle to chip, and she had to settle for par.

With the wind at her back, she judged her wedge perfectly to 4 feet for birdie at the 17th, and her 15-foot birdie putt on the 18th just stayed on the high side of the hole.

“You just have to dial in to small target and you have to be focused 100 percent on each shot,” Korda said of the tough conditions, rain Friday and wind on a clear Saturday. “You knew you were going to make mistakes. Had a pretty solid day.”

Andrea Lee had her third straight 68 and joined Korda at 12-under 204. Yealimi Noh chipped for eagle on the 16th and shot 67. She was three shots behind.

Thitikul, who opened with a 64, followed with a 73 and then came charging out of the gates in the strongest of the wind. She had four birdies on the front nine until hitting into the hazard in the par-4 sixth and making double bogey.

No matter. She responded with two birdies to erase that mistake, and she had three birdies in four holes to start the back nine and stayed ahead of the pack with her two late birdies.

Starting times are much earlier Sunday for the Mizuho Americas Open to be on network television (CBS) for a 3 p.m. finish. The wind isn’t likely to be a strong, though Boutier said that might present a different set of challenges.

“It’s supposed to be a bit less windy. I’m assuming the scores are going to be kind of low, too,” Boutier said. “We’ll see what happens, but happy to be in this position.”

ROME: After a wait of more than 100 days, Jannik Sinner still knows how to win a tennis match.

The top-ranked player made a solid return from his three-month doping ban by beating 99th-ranked Mariano Navone 6-3, 6-4 before an adoring home crowd at the Italian Open on Saturday.

It was Sinner’s first match since he won his third Grand Slam title at the Australian Open in January.

“Amazing feeling. I have waited quite long for this moment,” Sinner said. “I am very happy to be back.”

There weren’t too many signs of rust and it didn’t take long for Sinner to start crushing his groundstrokes on or near the lines. When the Italian broke for 3-1 in the first set, the crowd inside Campo Centrale sang “Ole, ole, ole, Sin-ner, Sin-ner.”

Many fans in the soldout crowd of 10,500 were dressed in orange, Sinner’s theme color. And there were plenty of signs that said “Bentornato Jannik” (“Welcome back Jannik”).

The victory extended Sinner’s winning streak to 22 matches, dating to October.

“It went very well at times,” he said. “Could be better, yes, but in any case it doesn’t matter about the result today. It has been a remarkable day for me.”

In February, Sinner agreed to the three-month ban in a settlement with the World Anti-Doping Agency that raised some questions, since it conveniently allowed him not to miss any Grand Slams and come back at his home tournament.

The settlement was made after WADA appealed a decision last year by the International Tennis Integrity Agency to fully exonerate Sinner for what it deemed to be an accidental contamination by a banned anabolic steroid in March 2024.

Many fellow pros feel Sinner was treated too lightly.

But the crowd at the Foro Italico night session was fully behind Sinner, who has remained Italy’s most popular athlete despite his suspension.

When Sinner unleashed a backhand approach winner up the line early in the first set — the game in which he eventually broke Navone’s serve — one Sinner fan yelled, “Destroy him.”

Another sign in the crowd translated to “Make our hearts beat.” One more referred to this week’s election of a new pope just down the road at the Vatican, joking that “After three months of conclave, Habemus Papam!” — using the Latin words that are announced from the balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica when a pope is elected.

“The crowd was incredible,” Sinner said. “They always give me strength to continue even in tough times. So it was a very, very special moment.”

His only real lapse came late in the second set when he failed to consolidate a break and dropped his serve. But he broke again in the next game and then served the match out.

Sinner hit twice as many winners as Navone, 21-10; but had more unforced errors, 24-19.

“It’s very difficult to have the right feedback when you don’t have any matches,” Sinner said. “But exactly that’s what I need. Now I think the best practice is the match itself.”

Sinner will next face 93rd-ranked Dutch qualifier Jesper De Jong, who beat 25th-seeded Alejandro Davidovich Fokina 6-0, 6-2.

The last Italian man to win the Rome title was Adriano Panatta in 1976.

Swiatek loses to Collins
In the women’s tournament, three-time champion Iga Swiatek was beaten by Danielle Collins 6-1, 7-5. The third-round loss marked Swiatek’s earliest defeat at a big WTA event in nearly four years.

Swiatek, the top clay-court player on the women’s tour, was coming off a lopsided loss to Coco Gauff in the Madrid Open semifinals last week. She has 15 days to rediscover her form before the French Open starts on May 25.

Swiatek has won four of her five Grand Slam titles at Roland Garros.