Sei Young Kim shot a 4-under 68 on Saturday and will take a three-stroke lead into Sunday’s finale of the LPGA MEDIHEAL Championship.
The 26-year-old from Korea finished her third day at Lake Merced Golf Club with three birdies and an eagle against just one bogey to reach 10-under par.
“I think today’s really cold during the tournament, so all the clubs were like five yards shorter than yesterday,” said Kim. “So it’s a little bit tough to judge the distance today but I tried to keep the focus on distance, how to make the right distance. Yeah, that’s helped me to a good score today.”
England’s Charley Hull shot a 70 to secure a spot in the final pairing, alongside leader Kim, at 7-under par.
“I feel like it’s more of a challenge, not as much of a birdie fest,” said Hull. “When it’s a long, wide, or a short, wide golf course, it’s just a putt fest. People can hit fairways and people can hit greens. But all this time, like I’m pretty straight and I don’t really pull a lot of putts. I feel like this golf course really suits me.”
Two further back was Puerto Rican Maria Torres, who carded a 71 on Saturday to grab solo third on 5-under par, one clear of a five-player logjam at 4-under, headlined by world No. 2 Minjee Lee of Australia, and American superstar Lexi Thompson.
Top-5 Leaders
Pos-Player-To Par (Rd 3)
1. Sei Young Kim -10 (-4)
2. Charley Hull -7 (-2)
2. Maria Torres -5 (-1)
4. Minjee Lee -4 (-5)
4. Lexi Thompson -4 (-3)
4. Amy Yang -4 (-2)
4. Louise Ridderstrom -4 (E)
4. Eun-Hee Ji -4 (+1)
Quotable
“I think it’s just a great stretch of holes. 15 is a reachable par 5 for basically everybody out here, so it’s definitely a good birdie opportunity. It’s overall just a great golf course. There’s challenging holes, but at the same time there’s some birdie holes out there.”
– Lexi Thompson, on final four holes at Lake Merced GC
Credit: Getty Images, LPGA Media
