(Reuters) – Local favourite Lim Hee-jeong roared to a four-shot lead after carding a flawless seven-under-par 65 in the third round of the $2 million BMW Ladies Championship in Busan, South Korea on Saturday.
Lim, who shared top spot with fellow South Korean An Na-rin after 36 holes, surged ahead with seven birdies on the par-72 LPGA International Busan course and the talented 21-year-old stayed bogey-free after three rounds.
“I think recently there was an event where I had one bogey-free round. But three consecutive bogey-free rounds I think is a first time for me,” Lim told reporters.
“After the second round, I felt like my game was really good, so I said that I was actually looking forward to the third and fourth round.
“Going into today, I felt I could be a little bit more aggressive. Of course there were some putts here and there that I wish I could have done better, but I’m really happy with the low score.”
Lim’s compatriot Ko Jin-young climbed three places to tie for second on the back of a five-under 67 to take her tournament tally to 14-under, four shots behind Lim heading into Sunday’s final round.
An carded three bogeys but recovered ground with six birdies – including five after the turn – to stay in the hunt alongside Ko after a three-under 69.
Lim started strongly with a birdie on the second hole and added three more before the turn.
Another birdie on the 11th was followed by a run of four holes without any gains before she rediscovered her rhythm to finish the round strongly.
Ryu Rae-han was tied for fourth place after a round of 67, alongside major champion Danielle Kang of the United States, who shot a 69.
Chun In-gee shared sixth place with Australia’s Minjee Lee.
(Reporting by Shrivathsa Sridhar in Bengaluru; Editing by Kim Coghill and William Mallard)
