South Korea’s Ryu Hae-ran held off China’s Yin Ruoning and Germany’s Esther Henseleit to maintain a two-stroke lead after Saturday’s third round of the LPGA Black Desert Championship.
Ryu endured a roller-coaster round with three bogeys, five birdies and an eagle to fire a four-under par 68 and stand on 18-under 198 after 54 holes at Black Desert Resort in Ivins, Utah.
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“Today was such a long day because the wind is more strong than yesterday, so was too tough for keeping on the fairway because the fairway is much firmer,” Ryu said.
“Just hard today, but I made an incredible eagle.”
Holing out from the fairway at the par-four 11th helped keep Ryu with the same margin she enjoyed after 36 holes but only after a last-hole double bogey by Henseleit left the German on 201 and Yin’s record round left her second on 200.
Yin fired an LPGA career-low 62 and broke the tournament’s 18-hole scoring record set by Ryu on Thursday, making 10 birdies in a bogey-free round.
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“I think basically my putting is very good. It’s on spot. And then also my approach shot gives me a lot of chances to make birdies,” Yin said. “Honestly did not see that coming. But after the first day here and shooting pretty low I was like, OK that’s doable.”
Ryu has bounced back after a disappointing finish in last week’s first major of the year, sharing the 54-hole lead at the Chevron Championship before a final-round fade that saw her miss a five-woman playoff won by Japan’s Mao Saigo.
Ryu seeks her third career LPGA title after the 2023 Northwest Arkansas Championship and 2024 FM Championship.
“Tomorrow again I’m in the champion’s (final) group, so I’m so excited,” Ryu said. “I just want to keep enjoying.”
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After a bogey-birdie start, Ryu charged ahead with back-to-back birdies at the sixth and par-five seventh holes and another at the par-five ninth.
She stumbled with a bogey to start the back nine but answered with her eagle at the par-four 11th, then added a birdie at the par-five 13th before another bogey at 14 and four closing pars.
Henseleit sandwiched birdies at the par-three third and par-four fifth holes around a bogey at the fourth, then birdied the par-five seventh and reeled off four birdies in a row to begin the back nine.
She answered a bogey at the par-three 15th with a birdie at the par-three 17th but a double bogey seven on the par-five 18th dropped her back.
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“Yeah, 18 wasn’t the finish I imagined, but still another day to go,” Henseleit said. “I’m hitting it really good and really good putting from that middle distance, kind of makable range.”
American Jennifer Kupcho recorded her third career ace with an eight-iron from 148 yards at the third hole.
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