Jin-young Ko poised to defend title

HSBC Womens World Championship R3

Defending champion Jin-young Ko of South Korea signalled her strong intentions of retaining her HSBC Women’s World Championship title by carding a seven-under-par 65 to take the third round lead on Saturday.

Ko traded eight birdies against a lone bogey at the Tanjong course to sign for a three-day total of 14-under-par 202, two shots ahead of American world No. 2 Nelly Korda, who posted her third consecutive 68 to take outright second place.

Elizabeth Szokol and Allisen Corpuz of the United States returned with matching 70s for a share of third place while overnight leader Danielle Kang slipped to fifth following a 72.

Ko produced four birdies in her opening five holes before dropping her only shot on the par-three seven but ahe recovered quickly with another birdie on eight to reach the turn in 32 before heavy rain once again forced the suspension of play for more than two hours.

When play resumed, the 27-year-old continued her charge with another four birdies on eight, 13, 16 and 17 to surge to the top of the leaderboard.

“It felt really good today and I hope to keep this momentum going. I have one more round to go and it’s going to be a great honour if I can win and defend my title.

“I know it’s going to be difficult, but I have to focus on playing my own game. If I’m able to do so, the scores will take care of themselves,” said Ko.

Meanwhile, Korda credited her mental fortitude for keeping her in the hunt for her ninth LPGA win after surviving another challenging day in Singapore.

“After the rain delay, I actually bogeyed 10 and had to tell myself to refocus. With such a long delay, you’re not in a zone where you were playing nine or holes before and you had the momentum.

“So, I was talking through the shots with my caddie and told myself not to make stupid mistakes. You are definitely a little bit more mentally fried after days like these,” said Korda.

Corpuz, playing her second year on the LPGA, will be switching to an attacking mode as her dream of securing her maiden win on Tour remains very much alive.

“I had the tendency in the past to get a little more conservative when I’m playing under pressure. But I know staying aggressive is needed to win this tournament and I’ll try to take that mindset into tomorrow. It’ll be a dream come true to get that win on the LPGA Tour,” said the 24-year-old.

Despite letting slip of her overnight lead, Kang remains upbeat of her chances as she admitted the misjudgements of her shots on holes 10 and 12 had marred her card.

“I actually played really well today. I missed a couple of putts but there weren’t a lot of birdie opportunities. The two times I got greedy on 10 and 12 and I made bogey.

“I tried to keep giving myself putts, and I think that kind of got to my patience a bit. There’s a lot of variables today but I was actually playing really solid,” said Kang.

Singapore’s Amanda Tan, meanwhile, returned with a 73 for a seven-over-par 223, giving her a chance of securing her best-ever result at the HSBC Women’s World Championship with her previous best finish coming in the 2017 edition where she signed off with a 13-over-par total.

The HSBC Women’s World Championship features 17 of the world’s top 20, including all of the world’s top five.

This year marks the 15th edition of the HSBC Women’s World Championship and remarkably, of the 14 previous winners, 12 are Major champions, lending yet further credibility to the player’s claim that this is ‘Asia’s Major.

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Pos.Nat.PlayerTo ParR1R2R3Total
1KORJin Young Ko-14726565202
2USANelly Korda-12686868204
T3USAElizabeth Szokol-11647170205
T3USAAllisen Corpuz-11706570205
5USADanielle Kang-10716372206
T6FRACeline Boutier-9707067207
T6JPNAyaka Furue-9686970207
T6JPNNasa Hataoka-9726570207
T6SWELinn Grant-9696771207
T10KORJenny Shin-8707068208
T10RSAAshleigh Buhai-8696772208
T10KORHyo Joo Kim-8686773208
T13NZLLydia Ko-7706970209
T13JPNYuka Saso-7677072209
T15USALilia Vu-6707070210
T15IRLLeona Maguire-6707070210
T15AUSHannah Green-6706971210
T15ESPCarlota Ciganda-6696972210
T19THAAtthaya Thitikul-5707071211
T19THAAriya Jutanugarn-5687370211
T19USAMina Harigae-5707071211
T19KOREun-Hee Ji-5697072211
T19SWEMadelene Sagstrom-5736771211
T19USASophia Schubert-5727168211
T19KORJeongeun Lee6-5687073211
T19ENGGeorgia Hall-5716674211
T27USAJennifer Kupcho-4716972212
T27DENNanna Koerstz Madsen-4716972212
T27KORIn Gee Chun-4706973212
T30USAMegan Khang-3697173213
T30JPNHinako Shibuno-3726972213
T30SWEAnna Nordqvist-3736971213
T30CHNXiyu Lin-3726873213
T30KORHye-Jin Choi-3717171213
T30CHNYuting Shi-3717171213
T30KORNarin An-3707271213
T30KORChella Choi-3716874213
T38KORA Lim Kim-2707074214
T38ENGJodi Ewart Shadoff-2707173214
T38KORAmy Yang-2727072214
T38CHNYu Liu-2707371214
T42USAAlison Lee-1707075215
T42FINMatilda Castren-1727073215
T42USAStacy Lewis-1727073215
T42THAMoriya Jutanugarn-1727172215
T46USACheyenne KnightPar737172216
T46KORSei Young KimPar737370216
48AUSMinjee Lee+1727471217
49THAPatty Tavatanakit+2687080218
T50THAPornanong Phatlum+3726978219
T50MEXGaby Lopez+3727176219
T50USAAndrea Lee+3727176219
T50USALizette Salas+3737373219
T50SCOGemma Dryburgh+3727869219
T55SWEMaja Stark+4746779220
T55CANBrooke M. Henderson+4787171220
T57USAMarina Alex+5727277221
T57THAPajaree Anannarukarn+5797072221
59USARyann O'Toole+6737079222
T60HKGTiffany Chan+7757177223
T60USASarah Schmelzel+7727774223
T60SINAmanda Tan+7767473223
63MEXMaria Fassi+8727577224
64RSAPaula Reto+9777474225
65JPNMao Saigo+13737185229
66USAJessica Korda+17767879233
Updated: March 4, 2023