South Korean Jiyai Shin fired a three-under-par 69 on Saturday to join American Michelle Wie atop the leaderboard after three rounds of the Canadian Women’s Open.
Shin erased a three-shot deficit and joined Wie on 10-under 206, four shots in front of Na Yeon Choi, Jee Young Lee and defending champion Suzann Pettersen of Norway.
Wie carded an even par 72 on a rainy day at the St Charles Country Club.
Taiwan’s Candie Kung shot a 69 for a seven-under 213 total, while compatriot Teresa Lu shot a 71 to be even-par 216. Further down the leaderboard, Taiwan’s Amy Hung was two-over 218 after carding a 72, while world No. 5 Yani Tseng missed the cut.
Shin’s round included five birdies and two bogeys. The 22-year-old picked up three birdies in her last six holes.
She boasts a formidable record when leading or sharing the lead going into the final round, with three victories in four attempts. If she can do it again, Shin will claim an eighth LPGA Tour victory.
“Today it was raining, so it made it really hard, very hard to play, because first my driver shot was off today, so I played really hard,but I made lots of good recoveries with the chipping and putts. I’m really happy with my score,” she said.
Shin was especially pleased with a chip on 16 to save par, when she knew that she was closing in on Wie.
Although the rain softened the course to make for better scoring conditions, the players were plagued by distracting mosquitoes on Saturday.
“Actually they tried to kill me,” Shin laughed. “It was so bad, my right arm, only my right arm almost 10 [bites],” she said. “So I tried to keep long shirts, long pants, but it doesn’t work. And put some spray, too. But it doesn’t work. They’re coming everywhere.”
Wie was a bit disappointed with her score, after failing to convert some of her birdie opportunities.
“I felt like I left a lot of putts out there. I felt like I could have made a lot of them, but hopefully tomorrow I can make all of them,” she said.
Like Shin, she said the mosquitoes were worse than the rain.
“I have to say of everything, the mosquitoes were the hardest to concentrate. They were pretty bad, but I found out they were a little better on the greens than on the fairways. They were very bad on the rough. So I’ll try to avoid that tomorrow,” she said.
South Korea’s Choi drained a 60-foot birdie putt on the 18th hole to complete a 71 for 210. Lee carded a 71 and Pettersen a 72.
They were one shot in front of France’s Karine Icher (70), South Korean In-Kyung Kim (69) and Britain’s Catriona Matthew (67).
ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY STAFF WRITER
A sumo star was born in Japan on Sunday when 24-year-old Takerufuji became the first wrestler in 110 years to win a top-division tournament on his debut, triumphing at the 15-day Spring Grand Sumo Tournament in Osaka despite injuring his ankle on the penultimate day. Takerufuji, whose injury had left him in a wheelchair outside the ring, shoved out the higher-ranked Gonoyama at the Edion Arena Osaka to the delight of the crowd, giving him an unassailable record of 13 wins and two losses to claim the Emperor’s Cup. “I did it just through willpower. I didn’t really know what was going
The US’ Ilia Malinin on Saturday produced six scintillating quadruple jumps, including a quadruple Axel, in the men’s free skate to capture his first figure skating world title. The 19-year-old nicknamed the “Quad god,” who is the only skater to land a quadruple Axel in competition, dazzled with an array of breathtakingly executed jumps starting with his quad Axel and including a quadruple Lutz in combination with a triple flip and a quadruple toe loop in combination with a triple toe. He added an unexpected triple-triple combination at the end to earn a world-record 227.79 in the free program for a championship
Shohei Ohtani’s interpreter is being criminally investigated by the IRS, and the attorney for his alleged bookmaker said Thursday that the ex-Los Angeles Dodgers employee placed bets on international soccer — but not baseball. The IRS confirmed Thursday that interpreter Ippei Mizuhara and Mathew Bowyer, the alleged illegal bookmaker, are under criminal investigation through the agency’s Los Angeles Field Office. IRS Criminal Investigation spokesperson Scott Villiard said he could not provide additional details. Mizuhara, 39, was fired by the Dodgers on Wednesday following reports from the Los Angeles Times and ESPN about his alleged ties to an illegal bookmaker and debts well
HSIEH MAKES QUARTERS: Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei and Elise Mertens of Belgium won in the women’s doubles and face Bethanie Mattek-Sands and Sofia Kenin of the US Top-ranked Iga Swiatek and US Open champion Coco Gauff were knocked out of the women’s singles at the Miami Open on Monday, while Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei advanced in the women’s doubles. Swiatek lost to Ekaterina Alexandrova 6-4, 6-2, hours after third seed Gauff fell in three sets to No. 23 Caroline Garcia 6-3, 1-6, 6-2. Alexandrova beat a top-ranked player for the first time and advanced to face Jessica Pegula, a 7-6 (7/1), 6-3 winner over Emma Navarro, in the quarter-finals. Alexandrova recorded her second win over Swiatek, following a 2021 victory in Melbourne. Swiatek had won their three matches since. “We played quite