[Photo: Getty images]
Minjee Lee has made a decent move up the leaderboard to spearhead the Australian tilt heading into the final round of the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship in Washington.
The narrow, tree-lined fairways of Sahalee Country Club near Seattle once again tested the best players in the women’s game, with former Gold Coast resident Amy Yang (71) leading by two shots through three rounds at seven-under par.
Born in South Korea, Yang completed high school at Robina State High and won the ANZ Ladies Masters at RACV Royal Pines Resort while in Year 11, at the time the youngest winner of a Ladies European Tour event.
A five-time winner on the LPGA Tour, Yang is chasing a maiden major championship that would also elevate her into position to represent Korea at the Olympics for a second time.
Lee’s spot on the Australian Olympic team is already guaranteed but she will be hoping to use a strong finish at Sahalee to generate momentum heading towards Paris.
An even par round of 72 on Saturday moved Lee up eight spots and into a tie for 25th at two-over par, three shots clear of fellow Australians Steph Kyriacou (78) and 2019 champion Hannah Green (73).
With just four birdies to her name over the first 36 holes, Lee made good early progress in round three.
She converted a birdie opportunity from just inside 12 feet at the par-4 fourth and then got up-and-down from the fringe at the par-5 sixth to be two-under on her round.
Three bogeys in her next four holes stalled the two-time major champion’s momentum but she fought back with birdie putts of 13 feet at No.12 and 29 feet at No.14, dropping a shot at No.15 to end the day even with the card and nine shots off the lead.
Birdies at Nos.12 and 17 helped Green to climb nine spots and into a tie for 43rd at five-over, level with Kyriacou who endured a disappointing third round. Just outside the top 10 at the start of play, Kyriacou hit just 43 per cent of fairways and 55 per cent of greens in her round of six-over 78 that saw her fall outside the top 40.
Two double-bogeys on her back nine saw Gabi Ruffels shoot 76 while Sydney’s Grace Kim dropped three shots in her final two holes in a round of five-over 77.
Australasian Scores
T25 Minjee Lee 74-72-72—218
T43 Stephanie Kyriacou 74-69-78—221
T43 Hannah Green 71-77-73—221
T62 Gabriela Ruffels 74-74-76—224
T62 Lydia Ko (NZ) 75-73-76—224
66 Grace Kim 73-75-77—225
MC Robyn Choi 75-76—151
MC Sarah Kemp 75-76—151
MC Hira Naveed 82-83—165
