Lauren Kim fires 4-under round to sit three shots back in individual standings
Hyosong Lee, 14, posted a 5-under 67 on Friday to propel the Republic of Korea into a share of the lead with Spain after Round 3 of the 30th Women’s World Amateur Team Championship. The Koreans, who started the day two shots off the lead, and the Spaniards stand at 17-under-par 415, with Thailand one stroke back in solo third.
Lee, the winner of the last two Korean Women’s Amateurs, rode a hot putter with six birdies against one bogey while besting the field with 10 one-putts. Korea, which is seeking its fourth Espirito Santo Trophy in the last seven competitions, added a 71 from Minsol Kim, No. 4 in the Women’s World Amateur Golf Ranking®/WAGR®, to bring the team’s third round tally to a 6-under 138. Kyorim Seo carded a non-counting 71 as only two of each team’s best three scores count toward the day’s total.
The three co-leaders heading into Friday’s third round struggled to get anything going during their opening nine holes. Australia, Spain and Thailand all made the turn with team scores at even par or 1 under, while Korea emerged as the solo leader with a nine-hole total of 4 under par.
Lopez Ramirez and world No. 2 Cayetana Fernandez Garcia-Poggio led a back-nine charge for the Spaniards, combining for three birdies on the final three holes to jump back into a share of the lead. Spain is seeking its first Espirito Santo Trophy since 1992 and first medal since 2012.
Also making a run on the back nine was Thailand. Reigning Women’s Amateur Asia-Pacific champion Eila Galitsky birdied the par-4 17th and par-5 18th to post a 3-under 69 in addition to a 72 from Navaporn Soontreeyapas, who co-leads the individual scoring race.
Chinese Taipei had the lowest team score on Friday and climbed six spots into fourth place (418) on the strength of a 6-under 66 from Huai-Chien Hsu and a 69 from Hsin Chun Liao. Australia, the 36-hole co-leader, dropped into fifth place after an even-par 144, followed by England, who sits in sixth at 12-under 420.
Thailand’s Soontreeyapas shares the individual lead with Chinese Taipei’s Hsu at 10-under 206. They are one stroke ahead of Spain’s Fernandez Garcia-Poggio, Avani Prashanth, of India, and Korea’s Seo.
Canada posted a 2-under 142 to remain in a tie for seventh with New Zealand at 8-under for the tournament. 2023 Canadian Women’s Amateur champion Lauren Kim of Surrey, B.C. had the low round of the day for Canada firing a 4-under 68 on Friday to move to 7-under for the tournament and now sits T8, just three shots back of Soontreeyapas and Hsu in the individual standings.
Monet Chun of Richmond Hill, Ont. shot a 2-over 74 and is now T30 at 1-under. Katie Cranston of Oakville, Ont. finished the day with a 3-over 75 and is at 8-over after three rounds.
Notable:
- Hyosong Lee, 14, is the third-youngest player in the field this week. Last December, she won the Malaysian Amateur Open.
- Avani Prashanath went 42 consecutive holes without a bogey (or worse) before surrendering her first on the par-3 seventh hole. Prashanath posted her third sub-par round of the competition (68-68-71).
- Francesca Fiorellini, of Italy, posted a bogey-free 7-under 65 to tie the low individual round of the competition and propel the Italians into a tie for 14th heading into the final round.
- No. 1-ranked amateur Ingrid Lindblad, of Sweden, carded a 6-under 66, including an eagle 3 on the par-5 18th to lead the defending champions to a third-round score of 138. The Swedes sit in a tie for 14th place with Italy.
- The United States of America, last year’s silver medal winner, sits in a tie for ninth place at 7-under.
- Japan’s Mizuki Hashimoto is a past champion at Abu Dhabi Golf Club. She won the 2021 Women’s Amateur Asia-Pacific held on the club’s National Course.
- Spain is vying to become the eighth wire-to-wire champion in Espirito Santo Trophy history, and the first since Sweden accomplished the feat in 2008.
- Thailand, competing in its 10th WWATC, is seeking its second medal in team history after winning silver in 2002.
- India (T-9) is in position for its best-ever Espirito Santo finish. Its current best (T-17) came in 2014.
What’s Next:
The final round begins Saturday at 6:30 a.m. local time with a two-tee start on the National Course at Abu Dhabi Golf Club. The leading teams of the Republic of Korea, Spain and Thailand will occupy the final tee times of 12:06, 12:17 and 12:28 p.m. off the first tee.
Results from Friday’s third round of the 2023 Women’s World Amateur Team Championships, played at par-72 Abu Dhabi Golf Club (National Course), in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.
T1 Spain 137-138-140–415
Cayetana Fernandez Garcia-Poggio 68-69-70–207
Julia Lopez Ramirez 69-69-70–208
Carla Bernat Escuder 70-70-77—217
T1 Republic of Korea 140-137-138–415
Hyosong Lee 71-70-67–208
Kyorim Seo 69-67-71–207
Minsol Kim 73-70-71—214
3 Thailand 141-134-141–416
Eila Galitsky 72-70-69–211
Navaporn Soontreeyapas 69-65-72–206
Suvichaya Vinijchaitham 72-69-75—216
4 Chinese Taipei 144-139-135–418
Huai-Chien Hsu 72-68-66–206
Hsin Chun Liao 72-72-69–213
Ting-Hsuan Huang 76-71-75—222
5 Australia 141-134-144–419
Maddison Hinson-Tolchard 72-66-71–209
Justice Bosio 69-68-73–210
Caitlin Peirce 77-73-74—224
6 England 144-137-139–420
Lottie Woad 72-70-69–211
Charlotte Heath 72-76-70–218
Caley McGinty 77-67-74—218
T7 New Zealand 148-135-141–424
Fiona Xu 74-67-69–210
Eunseo Choi 74-68-72–214
Vivian Lu 74-71-74—219
T7 CANADA 138-144-142–424
Lauren Kim 69-72-68–209
Monet Chun 69-72-74–215
Katie Cranston 74-75-75—224
T9 Germany 140-142-143–425
Helen Briem 72-69-69–210
Chiara Horder 69-74-74–217
Celina Sattelkau 71-73-75—219
T9 Ireland 139-145-141–425
Aine Donegan 74-70-69–213
Sara Byrne 68-75-72–215
Beth Coulter 71-77-74—222
T9 United States of America 142-139-144–425
Anna Davis 73-68-72–213
Rachel Kuehn 70-71-72–213
Megan Schofill 72-73-72—217
T9 India 140-142-143–425
Avani Prashanth 68-68-71–207
Mannat Brar 72-74-72–218
Nishna Patel 75-80-74—229
13 Scotland 141-142-143–426
Carmen Griffiths 71-70-69–210
Lorna McClymont 73-73-74–220
Hannah Darling 70-72-76—218
T14 Sweden 142-147-138–427
Ingrid Lindblad 71-75-66–212
Kajsa Arwefjall 71-74-72–217
Meja Ortengren 71-73-74—218
T14 Italy 143-147-137–427
Francesca Fiorellini 73-75-65–213
Natalia Aparicio 70-72-72–214
Matilde Partele 75-82-72—229
16 Philippines 143-146-140–429
Rianne Malixi 74-74-69–217
Junia Louise Gabasa 69-73-71–213
Grace Pauline Quintanilla 80-73-73—226
17 Hong Kong, China 145-142-143–430
Arianna Lau 71-71-71–213
Sophie Han 74-71-72–217
Hoi Ki Lau 79-74-76—229
18 Norway 143-142-146–431
Silje Torvund Ohma 73-68-72–213
Mia Lussand 70-76-74–220
Anna Krekling 74-74-75—223
19 Mexico 144-145-143–432
Lauren Olivares 75-73-68–216
Vania Alicia Simont 71-72-75–218
Cory Lopez 73-79-77—229
T20 Japan 145-141-147–433
Mizuki Hashimoto 77-69-73–219
Mamika Shinchi 68-73-74–215
Miku Ueta 78-72-78—228
T20 France 146-146-141–433
Vairana Heck 75-74-70–219
Adela Cernousek 72-72-71–215
Louise Uma Landgraf 74-74-74—222
22 Morocco 144-145-145–434
Sofia Cherif Essakali 70-73-72–215
Malak Bouraeda 74-77-73–224
Rim Imni 80-72-75—227
23 Colombia 142-147-147–436
Cristina Ochoa 71-76-71–218
María Hoyos 71-75-76–222
Ana Sofía Murcia 71-72-77—220
T24 Singapore 145-148-144–437
Inez Ng 72-70-68–210
Aloysa Atienza 73-82-76–231
Xingtong Chen 75-78-80—233
T24 Switzerland 144-151-142–437
Victoria Levy 73-76-70–219
Yana Beeli 77-75-72–224
Caroline Sturdza 71-82-73—226
26 South Africa 149-144-146–439
Caitlyn Macnab 73-71-70–214
Kajal Mistry 76-74-76–226
Megan Streicher 76-73-80—229
T27 Netherlands 147-148-145–440
Rosanna Boere 75-77-71–223
Anne den Dunnen 72-71-74–217
Lynn van der Sluijs 77-78-75—230
T27 Finland 148-149-143–440
Katri Bakker 75-74-69–218
Henni Mustonen 73-78-74–225
Emilia Vaisto 75-75-75—225
T27 Czechia 143-148-149–440
Veronika Kedronova 73-75-73–221
Patricie Mackova 71-73-76–220
Denisa Vodickova 72-75-76—223
30 Denmark 151-146-145–442
Cecilie Leth-Nissen 75-75-72–222
Natacha Host Husted 78-77-73–228
Olivia Grønborg 76-71-74—221
31 People’s Republic of China 152-142-149–443
Zixin Ni 79-78-74–231
Xinyu Cao 73-69-75–217
Tong An 80-73-77—230
32 Belgium 144-153-147–444
Sophie Bert 71-77-73–221
Savannah De Bock 73-76-74–223
Celine Manche 73-78-77—228
33 United Arab Emirates 150-153-145–448
Jamie Camero 78-77-71–226
Intissar Rich 76-76-74–226
Lara El Chaib 74-77-75—226
34 Chile 153-161-150–464
Carolina Alcaino 75-84-73–232
Michelle Melandri 78-77-77–232
Amelia Ruiz 78-88-82—248
35 Pakistan 151-156-159–466
Humna Amjad 73-78-79–230
Parkha Ijaz 78-78-80–236
Rimsha Ijaz 84-84-85—253
36 Bolivia 162-164-160–486
Victoria Suarez 82-81-78–241
Connie Quiroga 80-86-82–248
Florencia Cuellar Gutierrez 87-83-82–252