Lee Ga-young (이가영) has a chance to win a major on the Korean Ladies Professional Golf (KLPGA) Tour.
Lee shot a 1-over-par 73 with two birdies and three bogeys in the third round of the KB Financial Star Championship, the fourth major of the season on the KLPGA Tour, at Blackstone Golf Club (Par 72) in Icheon, Gyeonggi Province, on Monday.
At 3-under-par 213, Lee maintained a one-stroke lead over second-place Ye Won Lee.
Despite shooting over par on the day, Lee maintained her lead after shooting under par in the first and second rounds for the only time in her career.
Icheon Blackstone is considered one of the toughest courses on the KLPGA Tour.
Only three players were under par in the third round, including third-ranked Park Ji-young Lee (1-under 215).
Lee got off to a strong start with birdies at the second (par-4) and seventh (par-3) holes without a bogey.
However, her second shot on the 10th, 12th, and 14th holes (all par-4s) failed to find the green, resulting in a pair of costly bogeys.
“When I recovered from the bogeys, I missed the green the most,” Lee said after the third round. “Tomorrow, I’m going to play to protect the green,”
she added.
“Unlike the first and second rounds, I felt a little distracted in the middle of the round, but tomorrow I will keep my focus until the end,” she said.
With a two-day lead, Lee was on track to win her second title since the Dongbu E&C-Korea Land Trust Championship in October last year.
Lee, who made her debut in 2019, won her first title in her 98th appearance last year, shaking off four years of runner-up finishes.
This year, she continued to knock on the door of two wins, including a third-place finish at the Mediheal-Korea Times Championship in April and a runner-up finish at the Haiwon Resort Women’s Open in August.
Lee, who has two wins on the season and leads the money list, made just two birdies without a bogey to trail Lee by one stroke.
“I was frustrated with my play at the beginning, but I made a chip-in birdie on the first hole of the back nine and (my play) started to come together,”
Lee.
Park Ji-young, who shot her best score of the day (5-under 67) the day before, faltered with three birdies and four bogeys, dropping one spot to third.
“It was hard and sad that my game didn’t go very well today, but I managed to hang in there,” Park said, adding, “I will give it my all tomorrow.”
Seung-hee Noh carded six birdies on the day to shoot an even-par 216 and move into fourth place.
Seung-Hee Noh’s focus was unwavering, as he made six putts under three yards. He didn’t make a single three-putt.
“I wasn’t putting well in the first half, so before the Hanwha Classic (last month), I went to a pro who has been giving me putting lessons since I was a kid, and it’s been going well since then,” Noh said, “I’ve been working on the basics like ball position and power delivery.”
Defending champion Park Min-ji shot an even-par 72 for the second straight day and is tied for 10th (6-over-par 222) with Kim Min-byul, Lee Hyun-ju and seven others.
Jeon In-ji, playing in Korea for the first time in a year, shot a 2-over-par 74 to finish tied for 34th (10-over-par 226). 스포츠토토
