The South Korean star had seven consecutive one-putt greens on Saturday, including her torrid start to the back nine on the Cattail course at Phoenix's Whirlwind Golf Club when she went birdie-birdie-eagle-birdie as she started to pull away.
Even her bad shots turned out good. On the par-4 16th, Kim looked away in disgust when she pulled her approach, only for the ball to bounce right and take the slope down to 7 feet for yet another birdie.
Her storming third round took her to 25-under 191, breaking by one shot the tour's 54-hole record previous shared by four players, and good for a four-shot lead from American Korda (67).
"All round everything was great — putter, iron, driver, everything was as I would want it to go," Kim said.
Overnight leader Korda could only praise her final group partner Kim's golf despite her own classy bogey-free round.
"It was great," Korda said. "I mean, playing with someone like Hyo Joo today it didn't feel like that good of a round.
"She played unbelievable golf, putted really well. Overall, I'm never going to complain about a bogey-free round and 5 under. So it was solid."
Kim is the defending champion in Phoenix, and she is coming off a victory last week in the Founders Cup when she held off a late rally by Korda to win by one. Sunday will be their fifth consecutive round playing in the same group.
"Nelly is my favorite player. It's been great playing together," Kim said.
Kim also shot a 61 in the opening round when morning conditions were ripe for good scoring. That round was largely overlooked because Lydia Ko shot a 60.
Mimi Rhodes, the 24-year-old LPGA rookie from England, earlier posted a 63 and was in a group tied for a distant third at 16 under that included Ko, Chizzy Iwai, Minami Katsu and Ina Yoon.
Cassie Porter led the Australians after a 68 to be tied 17th but 14 shots behind Kim, with Karis Davidson (71) at 10 under and Robyn Choi (74) at five under.
Sunday shapes as a two-person race between players who already have won this year. Korda took the season opener that was cut to 54 holes because of extreme cold and wind in Florida, while Kim won last week at Sharon Heights.
