HONOLULU — Yu Jin Sung shot a 1-under 71 on Saturday at windy Hoakalei Country Club to take a one-stroke lead into the final round of the LOTTE Championship.
Playing on a sponsor invite after winning the 2022 LOTTE Open on the Korean LPGA, the South Korean is competing in her third LPGA Tour event.
Sung opened with a birdie on the par-5 first, dropped a stroke on the par-4 13th and rebounded with a birdie on the par-4 14th.
Georgia Hall, Linnea Strom and tour rookie Grace Kim were tied for second, with 13 players within three strokes of each other at the top of the leaderboard.
Kim, from Australia, had a 70. Hall, from England, and Strom, from Sweden, each shot 71.
Thailand’s Natthakritta Vongtaveelap, tied for the lead after each of the first two rounds, had a 73 to fall into a tie for fifth at 7 under with Lauren Hartlage (70), Christina Kim (71) and Nasa Hataoka (71).
The 20-year-old Vongtaveelap is making her second LPGA Tour start. In February, she won her first two events as pro on the Thai LPGA Tour, then was second behind Lilia Vu in the LPGA Thailand.
Brooke Henderson, at No. 7 the highest-ranked player in the field, had two back-nine bogeys in a 69 that left her 6 under. The Canadian birdied five or her first seven holes. She’s the only multiple winner in event history, taking the 2018 and 2019 titles at Ko Olina.
“The front nine was a lot of fun,” Henderson said. “I was making a lot of birdies and giving myself a lot of the good opportunities. Unfortunately, dropped a couple shots here on the back nine. Hopefully, just go out there and do the same thing the first nine holes and just clean this up a little bit.”
Bailey Tardy (65) also was 6 under with Celine Boutier (67), Peiyun Chien (69) and Siyun Liu (70).
Defending champion Hyo Joo Kim was 1 over, following a second-round 78 with a 71.
The Chevron Championship, the first women’s major championship of the year, is next week in Texas.