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Major winner Hannah Green took a two-shot lead into the final day of the LPGA BMW Ladies Championship in South Korea on Saturday as Thailand’s Atthaya “Jeeno” Thitikul entered contention.
Australian Green started the day with the sole lead, but three bogeys on the front nine at Seowon Valley Country Club clouded the situation at the top of the leaderboard.
Green, who won the Women’s PGA Championship in 2019 and has two tournament victories so far this year, turned things around with two birdies and an eagle on the back nine to improve to 18 under par overall.
“I felt like I didn’t hit a lot of bad shots on the front nine, I just couldn’t get anything going,” said Green, who was 2 under par for the day.
“I guess the momentum from shooting 16-under in two rounds kind of fizzled out, and I was angry about things I probably shouldn’t have.”
Green said a huge putt for eagle on the 15th green “really changed the momentum.”
“It definitely could have been worse, but I’m really proud that I managed to shoot under par,” she said.
South Korea’s Yu Jin-sung was two shots back at 16 under after a 9-under round in which she birdied half of the holes she played.
South Africa’s Ashleigh Buhai was at 15 under, while American Ryann O’Toole and South Korea’s Ryu Hae-ran were both a shot further back.
Former world number one Jeeno was at 13 under overall after a scintillating third round score of 8 under, par 64.
“I think concentration is the most important key for me,” said the 21-year-old, author of nine birdies and a bogey.
“The last few days or weeks it’s been going really well. And if I can keep that in mind, it should be good tomorrow.”
Olympic champion Lydia Ko finished six shots off the pace after a 1-under-par round of 71.
Defending champion Minjee Lee put an indifferent start to the tournament behind her to move to 10 under par after shooting a 66.
The second round concluded Saturday morning after heavy rain forced the suspension of play shortly after 1 p.m. Friday.
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