Alison Lee on Saturday took a three-stroke lead in the LPGA KEB HanaBank Championship, putting the 21-year-old UCLA student in position for her first victory.
Lee shot a four-under 68 in calm and firm conditions at Sky 72, saving par on 17 and birdieing 18 to stretch her margin over US Women’s Open champion Brittany Lang.
“The past few days, all week, I’ve been striking the ball really well,” Lee said.
Photo: AP
“I’ve been giving myself a lot [of] birdie chances. Even though I shot four-under today, I still left a lot of birdie putts other there,” she said.
Playing her second season on the tour while remaining in college, Lee had a 13-under 203 total on the Jack Nicklaus-designed Ocean Course.
“Everyone back home is cheering me on,” Lee said. “Even my roommates and some of the girls in the sorority. They know nothing about golf, but they’ve been tuning in to the Golf Channel.”
Lang shot a 72. South Korea’s Kim In-kyung, the winner two weeks ago in China in the first of six straight events in Asia, was third at nine-under after a 69.
Park Sung-hyun, tied for the lead early in the round, had consecutive double bogeys on the back nine in a 73 to fall to six-under.
She tied for second behind Lexi Thompson last year.
Spain’s Carlota Ciganda had a 69 to reach eight-under, and Cristie Kerr’s 72 left her at seven-under with Kaohsiung-born Candie Kung (69) and South Korea’s Kim Min-sun.
Taiwan’s Min Lee was in a share of 71st after a 77 put her on 228 overall, while amateur Hou Yu-sang was one shot back after a 75.
Additional reporting by staff writer
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