MEDIHEAL Championship 2021 R3
June 10-13
Lake Merced Golf Club, Daly City, California
$1,500,000
Round 1, Round 2, Round 4

Estimated reading time: 7 minutes

Min Lee fired a 68 to take a two-stroke lead at 9-under in the LPGA MEDIHEAL Championship. Coming off her third Symetra Tour victory at the Mission Inn Resort & Club Championship, she is looking for her first win and holds the 54-hole lead for the first time since joining the LPGA in 2015. Her total 207 is her lowest 54-hole score since the 2018 Meijer LPGA Classic when she posted a 206.

MEDIHEAL Championship 2021 R3

"I didn't really think about making a birdie on the golf course because I'm just t.rying to play smart and try to play my own game. I have probably five straight pars when I'm turning back, but I just gave myself a lot of chances to make birdies,” said Lee. “If it goes in, it goes in. If doesn't go in, I'll just, next shot.”

Lee started her round with a birdie at the first, and after her lone bogey of the day at the 5th, made four more birdies over her last ten holes including three in her final four. A win would make her the second winner from Chinese Taipei this season, following Wei-Ling Hsu at the Pure Silk Championship.

MEDIHEAL Championship 2021 R3

“I mean, because [Wei-Ling and I] grew up together, we're about the same age, and we trained together growing up. We have been classmates all the time, and I really think about if she can make it, I can do it, too,” said Lee. “So that's the thing in my mind. I hope this week I'll have a good finish.”

Matilda Castren, only the second Finnish player to play on Tour, and Lauren Kim round out Sunday’s final grouping, with both players making a birdie at the 18th to secure their spot in the trio for the first time in their LPGA Tour careers.

MEDIHEAL Championship 2021 R3

“I just tried to make some pars and made a couple birdies, so I was like 1- or 2-under for most of the round and managed to take advantage of the par-5s and luckily birdied No. 18, so that was really nice,” said Castren. “Played here once few years ago in a Monday Qualifier. It was my first year as a pro, so it was a really nice experience to see what it's like to play on an LPGA course. I really like it. It's very similar to Olympic [Club] that we played last week, so I feel like that was a really good prep for me coming into this week.”

MEDIHEAL Championship 2021 R3

LPGA Tour rookie Albane Valenzuela fired a 68 to sit in a tie for fourth with 2020 U.S. Women’s Open champion A Lim Kim at 6-under. Five players are 5-under and tied for sixth, including 36-hole leader Danielle Kang, who had an unfortunate double bogey at the 18th after going out of bounds from a greenside bunker to add to three bogeys and three birdies on Saturday.

Of the ten players within four shots of Lee’s lead, seven are looking to become the third Rolex First-Time Winner of the 2021 season.

MEDIHEAL Championship 2021 R3