Kia Classic R3

Inbee Park leading by 5-shots

Kia Classic 2021 R3
March 25-28
Aviara Golf Club, Carlsbad, California
$1,800,000
Round 1, Round 2, Round 4


Estimated reading time: 8 minutes

Park remained focused on moving day and shot a 3-under 69 to take a five shot lead into the final day.


Kia Classic 2021 R3

“I am really getting a good feel of it,” said Park. “It is tough putting on these greens (poa annua), but I have handled myself really well on the greens. Same gameplan that I have done last three days, would be nice to do again tomorrow.”

LPGA Tour rules staff moved up the tee boxes at the 6th, 9th, 16th and 17th on Saturday to make two reachable par-4s and trim the course length by roughly 300 yards from round two. In turn the 9th and 16th both saw three eagles this afternoon, while the 8th and 18th had one each.


Kia Classic 2021 R3

“It was actually a big surprise,” said Park. “I didn’t know the L PGA was going to move four tees up in one day. I never seen this kind of setup before, so they tried something new. It took a long time on the golf course today waiting to go for greens but it was fun. At the same time, I was a little bit annoyed because I couldn’t take advantage of them. But yeah, a fun setup.”

Mi Jung Hur and Minjee Lee will join Park in the final-round grouping tomorrow. Hur shot six birdies for a 5-under, while Lee managed four birdies and an eagle on the 9th to shoot 68 to tie for second at 7-under.

“I actually didn’t really know where the pin was exactly, but my caddie [Jason Gilroyed] was like, ‘Aim at the little tree that’s poking out on the right side,’” said Lee. “ I hit it at that with a 3-wood and went to about 6 feet under the hole, so it was a nice look at eagle and converted.”


Kia Classic 2021 R3

Also tied for second is Mel Reid. The Englishwoman managed a 1-under 71 playing in Saturday’ s final grouping with Park. She hopes to take advantage of the promising scoring conditions tomorrow in her chase of the 54-hole leader.

“I’ve probably saved 10-15 putts over the last two days, so I’m hoping they’ll all drop tomorrow,” said Reid. “I’m going to have to do something special to get it done. I think tomorrow the gameplan is to stay aggressive and there is nothing to lose. I’m going to try and get as close as I can to Inbee.”

“She’s an unbelievable golfer and going to be hard to beat. She doesn’t make any mistakes, that’s why she has won like a gazillion majors. One of the best players to ever play our game. I will definitely give it my best shot.”


Kia Classic 2021 R3

Pos.
Player
To Par
R1
R2
R3
Total
1
Inbee Park
-12
66
69
69
204
T2
Mi Jung Hur
-7
71
71
67
209
T2
Minjee Lee
-7
72
69
68
209
T2
Mel Reid
-7
68
70
71
209
T5
Jin Young Ko
-6
71
71
68
210
T5
Madelene Sagstrom
-6
72
74
64
210
T5
Lexi Thompson
-6
72
72
66
210
T8
Brooke M. Henderson
-5
73
70
68
211
T8
Hyo Joo Kim
-5
67
72
72
211
T8
Amy Olson
-5
75
69
67
211
T11
Nicole Broch Larsen
-4
70
71
71
212
T11
Wei-Ling Hsu
-4
71
69
72
212
T11
Annie Park
-4
72
74
66
212
T11
Sophia Popov
-4
68
68
76
212
T15
Marina Alex
-3
73
69
71
213
T15
Ariya Jutanugarn
-3
73
74
66
213
T15
Danielle Kang
-3
70
74
69
213
T15
Cristie Kerr
-3
76
68
69
213
T15
Bronte Law
-3
71
72
70
213
T15
Jenny Shin
-3
71
74
68
213
T15
Jing Yan
-3
73
69
71
213
T22
Cydney Clanton
-2
73
72
69
214
T22
Cheyenne Knight
-2
72
72
70
214
T22
Nelly Korda
-2
75
69
70
214
T22
Anna Nordqvist
-2
71
73
70
214
T22
Ryann O’Toole
-2
76
71
67
214
T22
Ayako Uehara
-2
72
73
69
214
T28
Ssu-Chia Cheng
-1
73
74
68
215
T28
Ally Ewing
-1
72
75
68
215
T28
Kristen Gillman
-1
70
71
74
215
T28
Mina Harigae
-1
69
74
72
215
T28
Charley Hull
-1
76
70
69
215
T28
Lydia Ko
-1
74
71
70
215
T28
Azahara Munoz
-1
70
72
73
215
T28
Lizette Salas
-1
75
68
72
215
T28
Amy Yang
-1
69
76
70
215
T37
Ashleigh Buhai
E
70
72
74
216
T37
Eun-Hee Ji
E
71
74
71
216
T37
Sarah Kemp
E
72
75
69
216
T37
Christina Kim
E
70
75
71
216
T37
Mi Hyang Lee
E
72
74
70
216
T37
Leona Maguire
E
72
74
70
216
T37
Stephanie Meadow
E
68
75
73
216
T37
Haley Moore
E
75
71
70
216
T45
Pajaree Anannarukarn
1
79
68
70
217
T45
Aditi Ashok
1
74
72
71
217
T45
Carlota Ciganda
1
76
69
72
217
T45
Dana Finkelstein
1
75
72
70
217
T45
Hannah Green
1
73
72
72
217
T45
Nanna Koerstz Madsen
1
74
73
70
217
T45
Mirim Lee
1
75
72
70
217
T45
Stacy Lewis
1
73
70
74
217
T45
Gaby Lopez
1
75
71
71
217
T45
Pornanong Phatlum
1
74
73
70
217
T45
Gerina Piller
1
71
70
76
217
T45
So Yeon Ryu
1
74
73
70
217
T45
Sarah Schmelzel
1
72
75
70
217
T45
Jennifer Song
1
75
72
70
217
T59
Esther Lee
2
73
74
71
218
T59
Xiyu Lin
2
75
69
74
218
T59
Liz Nagel
2
72
72
74
218
T59
Yealimi Noh
2
72
74
72
218
T59
Alana Uriell
2
74
70
74
218
T64
Brittany Altomare
3
74
71
74
219
T64
Tiffany Chan
3
76
69
74
219
T64
Jenny Coleman
3
72
73
74
219
T64
Brittany Lang
3
73
71
75
219
T64
Brittany Lincicome
3
71
72
76
219
T64
Elizabeth Szokol
3
71
71
77
219
T70
Celine Boutier
4
70
77
73
220
T70
Alena Sharp
4
75
68
77
220
T72
Jasmine Suwannapura
5
70
75
76
221
T72
Angel Yin
5
78
69
74
221
74
Jennifer Chang
7
72
72
79
223
T75
Caroline Inglis
8
73
74
77
224
T75
Pernilla Lindberg
8
71
76
77
224
CUT
Perrine Delacour
4
74
74
148
CUT
Dani Holmqvist
4
73
75
148
CUT
Sei Young Kim
4
72
76
148
CUT
Jennifer Kupcho
4
75
73
148
CUT
Jeongeun Lee6
4
75
73
148
CUT
Yu Liu
4
79
69
148
CUT
Haru Nomura
4
73
75
148
CUT
Sung Hyun Park
4
74
74
148
CUT
Robynn Ree
4
76
72
148
CUT
Sandra Gal
5
76
73
149
CUT
Jaye Marie Green
5
77
72
149
CUT
Jiwon Jeon
5
72
77
149
CUT
In Kyung Kim
5
73
76
149
CUT
Mo Martin
5
77
72
149
CUT
Caroline Masson
5
74
75
149
CUT
Katherine Perry-Hamski
5
74
75
149
CUT
Sarah Jane Smith
5
75
74
149
CUT
Yujeong Son
5
72
77
149
CUT
Emma Talley
5
73
76
149
CUT
Sarah Burnham
6
76
74
150
CUT
Chella Choi
6
74
76
150
CUT
Georgia Hall
6
78
72
150
CUT
Nasa Hataoka
6
79
71
150
CUT
Tiffany Joh
6
77
73
150
CUT
Moriya Jutanugarn
6
74
76
150
CUT
Haeji Kang
6
76
74
150
CUT
A Lim Kim
6
78
72
150
CUT
Wichanee Meechai
6
75
75
150
CUT
Giulia Molinaro
6
72
78
150
CUT
Jane Park
6
72
78
150
CUT
Maia Schechter
6
74
76
150
CUT
Lauren Stephenson
6
78
72
150
CUT
Jackie Stoelting
6
76
74
150
CUT
Kelly Tan
6
79
71
150
CUT
Patty Tavatanakit
6
71
79
150
CUT
Maria Torres
6
73
77
150
CUT
Lindsey Weaver
6
77
73
150
CUT
Matilda Castren
7
76
75
151
CUT
Na Yeon Choi
7
77
74
151
CUT
Maria Fassi
7
76
75
151
CUT
Juli Inkster
7
74
77
151
CUT
Angela Stanford
7
75
76
151
CUT
Andrea Lee
8
74
78
152
CUT
Jeongeun Lee
8
79
73
152
CUT
Roberta Liti
8
74
78
152
CUT
Su Oh
8
78
74
152
CUT
Hee Young Park
8
77
75
152
CUT
Morgan Pressel
8
76
76
152
CUT
Mariah Stackhouse
8
72
80
152
CUT
Suzuka Yamaguchi
8
77
75
152
CUT
Anne van Dam
8
77
75
152
CUT
Daniela Darquea
9
76
77
153
CUT
Lindy Duncan
9
79
74
153
CUT
Megan Khang
9
76
77
153
CUT
Linnea Strom
9
77
76
153
CUT
Muni He
10
75
79
154
CUT
Jaclyn Lee
10
76
78
154
CUT
Paula Reto
10
78
76
154
CUT
Albane Valenzuela
10
75
79
154
CUT
Lauren Kim
11
77
78
155
CUT
Katherine Kirk
11
82
73
155
CUT
Michelle Wie West
11
81
74
155
CUT
Mind Muangkhumsakul
12
78
78
156
CUT
Austin Ernst
13
79
78
157
CUT
Jillian Hollis
15
80
79
159
CUT
Min Seo Kwak
16
78
82
160
CUT
Yani Tseng
22
82
84
166
DQ
In Gee Chun
-4
68
68
Updated: October 6, 2022