Fueled by four late birdies, world No. 2 Atthaya Thitikul is taking a one-stroke lead into the final round of the lone LPGA tournament in South Korea.
Thitikul shot a five-under 67 to reach 15-under after three rounds at the BMW Ladies Championship at Oak Valley Country Club on Saturday. The Thai rookie sensation had six birdies and one bogey on the par-72, 6,661-yard course in Wonju, about 85 kilometers east of Seoul.
Thitikul will be going for her third title of 2022, with two players of Korean descent, Lydia Ko of New Zealand and Andrea Lee of the United States, lurking one stroke back.
With a victory Sunday, Thitikul will overtake South Korean Ko Jin-young as the new No. 1. Ko, the defending champion, withdrew before the start of the third round, after shooting 80-79 over the first two rounds. This was Ko’s first tournament in two months after recovering from a wrist injury.
The crowded leaderboard saw several names within a couple of shots of one another down the stretch. And Thitikul emerged from the pack with three consecutive birdies, starting at the 13th.
The last of those three, at the par-five 15th, drew Thitikul level with Lee at 14-under. Then a birdie at the 17th gave Thitikul the sole possession of the lead at 15-under.
“I tried to keep making birdies on the last nine, because I didn’t have that many birdies on the front nine,” Thitikul said afterward. “I was trying to put myself in positions for easy birdies. I had a good game plan on the back nine.”
Thitikul is also a leading contender for the Rookie of the Year award, but the 19-year-old said she isn’t paying attention to individual glory.
“To be honest, I don’t really care about the ranking,” Thitikul said. “I play golf because I want to take care of my family. Ranking is not that important for me.”
Lee, the overnight leader by two shots at 12-under, made the turn nursing a one-stroke lead at 13-under. But she settled for a par at the 15th, which must have felt like a bogey on the easy par-five that has yielded a few eagles all week. Then Lee had the actual bogey at the 16th to fall two behind Thitikul, before a birdie brought her back within one of the leader. Lee carded a 70 in the third round after five birdies and three bogeys.
Ko, the Korean-born Kiwi, charged up the leaderboard with four birdies on the front nine, before missing a few makeable birdie attempts on the back nine. Then birdies on the two par-five holes, the 15th and the 18th, took her to six-under for the day and 14-under for the tournament.
Lilia Vu of the United States sits alone in fourth at 13-under, with a pair of South Koreans, Kim Hyo-joo and Choi Hye-jin, another stroke back at 12-under. Both players shot 66s Saturday.
Kim MIn-sol, a 16-year-old South Korean amateur playing on a special invitation this week, carded a 71 Saturday to sit at 11-under. Playing in the final group for the second straight day, Kim hung tough until consecutive bogeys at the 12th and 13th pushed her out of the race.
Source: Yonhap News Agency