HONOLULU — Yeo Jin-Sung hit a 1-under 71 on Friday at windy Hoakalei Country Club to take a one-stroke lead going into the final round of the LOTTE tournament.
The 22-year-old South Korean is playing on a sponsor exemption after winning the 2022 LOTTE Open Championship on the Korean LPGA. She’s trying to become the first Shepherd’s Invitation to win since Lydia Ko at the 2013 CP Women’s Open.
“I didn’t really think about the winning part,” said Song. “There’s still one more day left in this tournament. Again, I’m not really thinking about winning, but just trying to show my best golf.”
She opened with a birdie in par 5 first, dropped a putt on par 4 13 and then rebounded with a birdie in par 4 14.
“It’s a very difficult track and it’s really windy today, so I did my best to ease up and play that way,” Song said.
Tournament freshman Georgia Hall, Linnea Strom and Grace Kim are all tied for second, with 13 players within three strikes of each other at the top of the leaderboard.
Kim, from Australia, had a 70. Hall, from England, and Strom, from Sweden, each shot a 71.
“I am very happy to be in this position,” Strom said. “I’ve been working so hard to be here. So, it’s nice to see some of the hard work pay off. But I still feel like I’m not doing it as well as I would like it to be there. Very well, but I’m having a little bit of my irons at the moment.”
Tied for the lead after each of the first two rounds, Thailand’s Natakrita Vongtavelap took 73 points to tie for fifth at 7-under behind Lauren Hartlage (70), Christina Kim (71) and Nasa Hataoka (71).
The 20-year-old Vongtaveelap is making her second LPGA Tour start. In February, she won her first two events as a professional on the LPGA Thailand Tour, then came runner-up to Lilia Vu on the LPGA Thailand.
Brooke Henderson, the No. 7 seed, the highest-ranked player in the field, was two from behind with a bogey nine in a 69 that left her under 6. The Canadian birdie made five or her first seven holes. She is the only multiple winner in the history of the event, taking the 2018 and 2019 titles in Ko Olina.
“The Front Nine was a lot of fun,” said Henderson. “I’ve been making a lot of birdies and giving myself a lot of good chances. Unfortunately I dropped a couple of shots here on the back nine. Hopefully I can get out there and do the same thing on the first nine holes and clean this up a bit.”
Billy Tardy (65) was also six under with Celine Potter (67), Byun Shin (69) and Seon Liu (70).
Defending champion Heo Joo Kim was past first, after a second round 78 with a score of 71.
The Chevron Championship, the first women’s major of the year, will be held next week in Texas.