Australia’s Minjee Lee will head into the final round of this week’s Hana Financial Group Championship three shots behind a trio of Korean leaders after signing for a three-under-par 69 in the third round of the championship on Saturday.
Lee, a 10-time LPGA and Major winner, is the only international player inside the top 10 on a stacked leaderboard where the South Koreans continue to dominate with 18 holes left to play.
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Kim Suji, Ma Dasorn and Yoon Ina lead with their three-day total of eight-under-par 208 at the KRW 1.5 billion (approximately US$1.13 million) event, which boasts the largest prize purse on the KLPGA Tour this season.
Thai amateur Eila Galitsky (68) along with compatriot Patcharajutar Kongkraphan (69) are the next best-placed international players in tied-15th, five shots off the pace. World No. 3 and Olympic gold medallist Lydia Ko struggled under the windy conditions and returned with a 74 to end her day, tied for 25th and seven shots behind the leaders.
Filipino amateur Rianne Mikhaela Malixi had a day to forget as the 17-year-old signed for a 75 to end the day in tied-33rd place after previous rounds of 69 and 73 at the Bear’s Best Golf Club located in Cheongna.
Starting the day six shots off the lead in a share of 26th place, Lee, who has yet to win this year, birdied the par-four second hole before making seven straight pars to turn in 35. The 28-year-old had a pair of birdies on 10 and 11 before dropping a shot on 12. She picked up two more shots on 14 and 15 before reaching home with a bogey-par-par.
“It was a pretty solid day, considering the windy conditions and the pin positions were difficult. And I managed to crawl my way up the leaderboard.
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When asked about erasing the memories of last year’s playoff defeat, Lee said: “It was what it is. I didn’t win that time but I’m still going to try to do my very best and play to the best of my abilities.”
Coming off her domestic win at the Singha-SAT Thai LPGA Masters last week, Parcharajutar declared she is ready to mount a fightback in her maiden outing at a KLPGA event.
“It was a tough day with the wind and challenging pin positions. But I just kept focusing on every shot and I’m quite happy I managed to put myself in a good position for Sunday.
“I enjoy the company of playing with the Korean players. This is also my first time playing in a KLPGA event and I played better than I had expected. Tomorrow, I will just continue to fight,” said the 32-year-old.
Malixi, meanwhile, hopes to end her week on a positive note after enduring what she described had been a very ‘tough’ day.
“I was hitting my irons well but I missed a lot of shots and most of the time, they went into the edge of the bunkers and it was plugged in. I couldn’t get it out. Hopefully, I can hit the shots into the right spot tomorrow. I just have to stay patient, keep on knocking and hopefully the putts will drop,” said Malixi.
