South Korean players lead at LPGA tournament in Busan

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This article was published 26/10/2019 (2536 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

BUSAN, Korea, Republic Of – South Koreans Somi Lee and Seung Yeon Lee were tied for the third-round lead Saturday at the Buick Ladies Championship, the second event on the LPGA’s four-tournament Asian swing.

Somi Lee shot 67 and Seung Yeon Lee 68 for 54-hole totals of 13-under 203.

Ha Na Jang was in third place, a stroke behind, after a 68.

Amy Yang (67), Busan-born Australian Su Oh (67) and second-round leader Danielle Kang (71) were two strokes behind the leaders and tied for fourth.

Seung Yeon Lee had birdies at 14, 15, 16 and 17, recovering from an early double bogey at No. 6.

“I really tried to focus on the present,” said Seung Yeon Lee. “I wasn’t thinking about how many birdies I was making, how many pars I was making or if I wasn’t too wrapped up in how I made a double bogey. Instead I just focused on every shot.”

Somi Lee birdied six of her final 10 holes.

Three players are on 11 under — last week’s winner Kang, four-time LPGA winner Yang and Su Oh, who is looking for her first victory in her fourth year on tour.

Brooke Henderson (70) of Smiths Falls, Ont., was tied for 27th at 5 under. Hamilton’s Alena Sharp (71) was tied for 33rd at 4 under.

Kang started the day with a one-stroke lead after back-to-back 67s. After opening with three bogeys and one birdie over her first five holes, Kang recovered on the back nine, coming home with birdies on Nos. 11, 12 and 15.

“It was a very frustrating round today. I hit the wrong number twice. Every mistake you could possibly think of, we made it,” said Kang, who is aiming to become the LPGA Tour’s first back-to-back winner since 2017.

“I was proud that we were able to capitalize on certain holes and make some birdies coming in. I know that finishing in the red numbers was important. There was a lot of birdies out there today … I didn’t see much of the leaderboard, but I knew people were going low, so I was kind of frustrated.”

The LPGA Tour’s Asian swing moves to Taiwan next week with a fourth stop in Japan. Kang won the first stop in Shanghai last week.

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