South Korea’s Mi Hyang Lee expanded her Blue Bay LPGA lead to three strokes Saturday at Hainan Island, China.
Her action-packed round of 1-under 71 featured seven birdies and six bogeys at the Jian Lake Blue Bay Golf Course.
Chasing her third LPGA Tour title and her first since 2017, the 32-year-old enters Sunday’s final round at 12-under.
Trailing Lee at 9-under are countrywoman Hye-Jin Choi (68 on Saturday) and China’s Yu Liu (73).
Defending champion Rio Takeda (67) of Japan, India’s Aditi Ashok (70) and South Korea’s A Lim Kim (71) are tied for fourth at 8-under.
Lee only parred one hole on the front nine, balancing four birdies and four bogeys. She sandwiched birdies at Nos. 12 and 15 around back-to-back bogeys on Nos. 13-14, then closed with a birdie at the par-5 18th.
“A lot of up and down, but still finished under par, so really looking forward to tomorrow,” said Lee, who is battling through some shoulder pain this week.
“Last night I couldn’t sleep without my medication, so hopefully just one more day for tomorrow,” she said.
Choi birdied five of her first eight holes in the third round before giving one back with a bogey at the par-4 17th.
“I had a really good start of the round and my shot was really good and I had lots of birdie chances. I also made a lot of long putts,” Choi said. “The back nine, it was not a really good situation compared to the front nine, but I made a lot of good saves.”
Choi said the windy conditions affected some of her shots on the back nine.
Liu also appeared to struggle with the conditions as she attempts to become just the second Chinese player to win the tournament since its inception in 2014. She birded Nos. 8 and 18 and eagled the par-14 12th hole but also had three bogeys plus a double-bogey at the par-4 10th.
China’s Weiwei Zhang (72) and Auston Kim (74) share seventh place at 7-under. Lucy Li (67) and China’s Muni He (70) round out the top 10 at 6-under par.
China’s Yuai Ji climbed 39 places into a tie for 16th at 3-under with the low round of the day at 6-under 66. Eight birdies and a double-bogey at the par-4 13th hole filled her scorecard.
