Park In-bi (33) took the lead in the third round of the American Women’s Professional Golf (LPGA) Tour KIA Classic ($1.8 million in total prize money) by five strokes.
On the third day of the tournament held at Aviara Golf Club (par 72, 6,609 yards) in Carlsbad, California, USA on the 28th (Korean time), Park Inbi hit 3 under par 69 with 4 birdies and 1 bogie.
Park In-bi, who recorded a total of 12 under par 204 strokes on three days, ahead of the tied second-place players by five strokes, inflating the possibility of winning 21 victories in the tour.
Park Inbi won 20 tours at the Australian Open in February last year, and if he wins this competition, he will be the champion in one year and one month.
Mi-jeong Heo (32), Lee Min-ji (Australia) and Mel Reed (England) were tied for second place with 7-under 209 strokes.
Park In-bi, who was 1st in the 1st and 2nd rounds alone, grabbed a birdie in the 5th and 7th holes this day, and Zofia Popov (Germany), who was second in the 1st and 2nd, only watched the 11th (par 3). Thanks to the number of dogs, it widened a wide gap from the second place.
The only example came out on the 11th hole (par 3) on this day, narrowing the gap from 2nd place to 3 strokes, but after the 12th hole (par 4) and a par save, he sighed with the 13th hole (par 4) and a birdie.
Park In-bi, who was keeping the lead by 4 strokes, ended the 3rd round happily by catching a birdie from the 17th hole (par 5), making 2nd and 5th strokes.
Park In-bi, who finished runner-up only three times in 2010, 2016, and 2019, has a good chance to finally reach the top of the KIA Classic.
Park In-bi, currently ranked 4th in the world, is actually in the process of making reservations for tickets for this year’s Tokyo Olympics.
At the end of June, the top two players from one country can compete in the Tokyo Olympics based on world rankings.
However, a country with two or more players in the 15th world ranking can have a maximum of 4 players in the 15th place.
As Korean female athletes currently have six in the 15th place, the top four can compete in the Olympics, and Park Inbi is the third among Korean athletes after first place Ko Jin-young (26) and second place Kim Se-young (28).
Ko Jin-young, the world’s No. 1 leader, is tied for fifth place, six strokes behind the lead, along with Lexy Thompson (USA), with a six-under-par 210.
Go Jin-young grabbed 5 birdies up to the 15th hole (par 4) and pursued Park In-bi up to 3 strokes, but the only bogie appeared on the 16th hole (par 4) on this day and could not continue the uptrend.
Kim Hyo-joo (26), ranked 8th in the world ranking, the fourth highest in the world ranking among Korean players, tied for 8th place with 5 under par 211 strokes and Brook Henderson (Canada).
/yunhap news