Jinhee Lim has a chance to earn her first career multiple wins on her home island of Jeju.
The South Korean shot a 2-under 70 with two birdies and no bogeys to take a two-shot lead after the third round at Blackstone Jeju (Par 72, 6,626 yards) in Jeju City on Friday.
It was his third straight day under par after a 2-under par first round and a 3-under par second round.
Of the 64 players who made the cut, Lim and runner-up Min Kyung Choi (5-under 211) were the only players to finish rounds one through three under par.
Im finished with a 7-under-par 209 total, two strokes ahead of Choi.
The victory puts her on track to win her second title of the season after winning the NH Investment & Securities Ladies Championship in May.
She has yet to win more than two titles in a season, having accumulated one victory each year since 2021.
She dropped birdie putts on the third (par-4) and ninth (par-4) holes of the day by placing her second shots 4.1 meters and 2.3 meters from the hole, respectively.
Lim ranked first in putting stroke average (2.77) in rounds one through three. She made all nine of her one- to two-yard putts and eight of 10 from two to three yards.
When we caught up with Lim in the mix zone after the third round, she was exhausted from her intense focus in the hot conditions. On the last three days, she even had a black eye in her right eye.
“I used a lot of energy in the first half, so it was very hard in the second half,” she said, “I almost made a bogey at the end, but I managed to hold on.”
She said her putts went well and credited a change in her putting stance after the end of last season.
“It’s to relax my right arm because I can’t make a stroke if my left arm is extended and my right arm is extended at the same time,” said Lim, who uses her left hand to hold her right arm before putting.
With her second win of the season, Lim said, “I’m not without confidence. I think I can do it sooner or later, even if it’s not in this tournament,” she said, “but I don’t want to talk too much about it because the course is tough and you have to have concentration, stamina, and shot feeling.”
Choi had three birdies and two bogeys on the day to finish at 5-under-par 211 and chase leader Im Jin-hee.
Choi got off to a slow start, dropping birdies on the fifth (par-4) and seventh (par-3) holes, but she made up a stroke on the ninth (par-4) and birdied the 15th (par-4) and 17th (par-4) holes late in the round.
Choi, who joined the KLPGA in 2011, has yet to report her first win in 189 tournaments.
“It’s been a long time since I’ve played in the championship group, so I’ll try to show my backside,” Choi said, “I think I have to overcome a big mountain to win, and I’ve been working hard to overcome that mountain, so I’ll try to win tomorrow.”
Tied for third place were Hyun Se-lin, Chung So-i, Bae So-hyun, and Lee So-young (4-under par 212).
Hwang Yoo-min, who had shared the lead with Lim Jin-hee the day before, slipped to a tie for seventh place with Lee Ye-won (3-under par 213).
Park Ji-young, the season’s leader in points, money and scoring average, finished tied for 26th (2-over par). 토토사이트