Yamashita Holds Slender Lead With One Round Remaining at Aramco Korea Championship

• Miyu Yamashita leads the Aramco Korea Championship after 54 holes.
• Five-time major champion Yani Tseng is solo second, one shot back.
• Celine Herbin-Marshall’s 65 equalled the New Korea Country Club course record and lifted her into outright third.

Miyu Yamashita has spent three days at New Korea Country Club refusing to blink. A third successive sub-70 round, a 68, took the Japanese star to 13-under and kept her name at the top of the Aramco Korea Championship leaderboard heading into Sunday.

The cushion has shrunk, though. Yamashita started the day two clear at the halfway stage. She now leads by one, and the player breathing down her neck is Yani Tseng.

Yamashita opened with a birdie at the 1st, gave it straight back at the 2nd, then picked up shots at the 8th and 11th. As on Friday, she saved her best for the closing stretch, with back-to-back birdies at the 16th and 17th. The 17th has now given her a birdie in all three rounds.

“Today my shots are consistent, and I struggled with my putting a little bit. Tomorrow, I will stay focused on my shots within 100 yards. The greens also for me are a little bit difficult to read as well,” said Yamashita. “I am also planning on eating Korean food tonight as well! I will do my best tomorrow.”

The 2025 AIG Women’s Open champion has history with closing the deal. She won her first major at Royal Porthcawl from a one-shot overnight lead, and came from five back to beat Lottie Woad in a playoff at the Meijer LPGA Classic in June. Sunday asks a different question: can she hold off a five-time major champion who has rediscovered the taste for it?

Miyu Yamashita birdies the 17th to take the outright lead on -13 👏 #AramcoKoreaChampionship https://t.co/jRmUpdLLBu

— Ladies European Tour (@LETgolf) October 10, 2026

Tseng back in the spotlight

Tseng began moving day in a share of fourth place on 6-under and finished it alone in second on 12-under. Her bogey-free 66 featured birdies on the 3d, 8th, 11th, 13th, 14th and 18th holes, and she credited a breakthrough on the greens.

“I enjoy this course, it’s not easy to walk. The first couple of days, I was still trying to adjust to the green speed a little bit. Today I putt really well and I’m happy that I’m in contention now,” said Tseng.

“I’m very nervous, even the last three holes I was so nervous. I haven’t been in this position since last year but I’m just happy. This is what I’ve been working on, I’m trying to not think about it too much,” she said.

“I want to enjoy tonight and enjoy tomorrow as much as I can. That’s what I missed about playing golf was to be in contention and play competition golf and be in the last two groups, that pressure you will never get that when you practice and I’m looking forward to it.

The Korean galleries are doing their bit too.

“I always really enjoy playing golf in Korea, I love the fans out here. They’re always cheering, it doesn’t matter what the result is and that’s a great motivation. It’s pretty cool,” said Tseng.

Herbin-Marshall matches the record

The round of the day belonged to France’s Céline Herbin-Marshall. Her 7-under 65 equalled the course record set by Seojin Park in 2025 and matched by Patricie Mackova on Thursday, and it carried the two-time LET winner into outright third on 11-under.

She birdied the 1st and 5th holes before holing a monster putt for eagle on the par-5 8th. Birdies on her 14th, 16th and 17th completed the climb.

“It was quite something. It was really consistent. I enjoy the greens a lot here, so I’m holing some nice putts,” said Herbin-Marshall. “My round highlight was holing a long putt for eagle on eight. That was quite a bonus. I kept being patient, rolling good putts and sometimes they went in and sometimes they didn’t. I kept believing in my game.”

Like Yamashita, she arrived from Hawaii.

“I feel very comfortable since I arrived from Hawaii on Tuesday on those greens, much less grain than the last week. That was a little bit of a relief. I read the greens quite well and it’s nice to be playing well,” she said.

Celine equals the course record 65 (-7) and soars up the leaderboard in Seoul into third position on -11 👏 #AramcoKoreaChampionship https://t.co/op0QLpFe2k

— Ladies European Tour (@LETgolf) October 10, 2026

Ding flawless, Kouskova stumbles late

Hong Kong’s Ginnie Ding and Czechia’s Sara Kouskova share fourth place on 10-under, three behind the leader.

Ding, who played at the Asian Games last week, went bogey-free with five birdies in a 67.

“I kept it in the fairway and on the green. I’m not going to overcomplicate it tomorrow. The course is playing so nice and pure, and I’m reading the greens well so I’m building confidence from that,” she said.

Kouskova had the more dramatic afternoon. The two-time LET winner made three birdies on the front nine, added another at the 10th, then ran off three in a row from the 12th to the 14th to take hold of the lead. Three bogeys in the closing stretch undid much of that good work.

“Maybe I had a little mistake on 17 with the hook with the 3-wood and then 18, that shot off the tee a little left, but I was in a divot on the fairway afterward,” said Kouskova. “I played until then almost without the mistakes, so I guess it had to come at some point and sadly that was at the end.”

There was consolation in her playing partner.

“I’ve had a very big fan moment today with Yani [Tseng]. I have a picture of her on my wall in my little room back home and she’s such a star and inspiration, so I definitely enjoyed it,” she said.

The chasing pack

Australia’s Sarah Kemp and Sweden’s Louise Rydqvist are tied sixth on 9-under. Five players sit a further shot back in a tie for eighth.

This is the first edition of the event played over 72 holes of individual strokeplay, with a $2 million purse on the PIF Global Series. The fourth round, the one the old format never had, will decide it on Sunday.

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Aramco Korea Championship Leaderboard