- Miyu Yamashita leads the Maybank Championship by two strokes after three rounds.
- Yan Liu and Pauline Roussin-Bouchard are tied for second place.
- Liu shot the round of the day, finishing with a hole-out eagle on the 18th.
Miyu Yamashita is 18 holes from her first title defence on the LPGA Tour. The Japanese star shot a 5-under 67 on Saturday at Kuala Lumpur Golf & Country Club, her third straight round in the 60s, and takes a two-stroke lead into the final round of the Maybank Championship.
She was two clear at halfway and kept that margin. She hit 13 of 14 fairways and 15 of 18 greens and needed 28 putts. Her 54-hole total is seven shots better than her score at the same stage a year ago, when she went on to win a three-way playoff.
Victory would be her third LPGA win of 2026, after a playoff win at the Meijer LPGA Classic and a record-equalling nine-shot romp at the CPKC Women’s Open. The 2025 AIG Women’s Open champion has finished inside the top 10 in four consecutive tournaments.
“So of course winning a title is something pretty special itself, but I really like the course and I’ve been get so much support from the fans here in Malaysia so I will do my best here tomorrow,” said Yamashita.
Who is chasing?
China’s Yan Liu climbed into a share of second place with an eagle, nine birdies and two bogeys. The eagle came at the last, where she holed out from about 100 metres. She hit only six fairways but found 16 greens and took 26 putts. The 63 equals her lowest round on tour, matching her opening round at the 2025 JM Eagle LA Championship. Her best LPGA finish is a tie for third.
“Even when I finish I don’t know what score I shoot today. I just ask my caddie, what score I have today? He said 9-under. Well, I’m very surprised, too, yeah,” Liu said.
Pauline Roussin-Bouchard, who led after an opening 64, added a 67 to sit alongside Liu. Her 200 is her lowest 54-hole total on the LPGA Tour, beating the 204 she posted at the 2022 LPGA Drive On Championship. The Frenchwoman, still chasing a first LPGA title, finished tied 60th here last year after a second-round 80.
“I’m very happy with the way I’m hitting the ball so it’s easier to get on with the bogey because I know it’s going to be plenty of other opportunities coming my way,” said Roussin-Bouchard.
Thailand’s Marisa Tojai is tied for fourth after back-to-back 65s. The 17-year-old amateur, the youngest player in the field, came through the ASEAN Qualifier. The best finish by an amateur at this event is a tie for 12th, set by Mirabel Ting in 2024. Ting is the leading Malaysian this week. She topped the Epson Tour points list this season to earn LPGA status for 2027.
Yuri Yoshida, who won the BMW Ladies Championship last week, shot 66 to reach 11-under. Charley Hull struggled to a 72 and slipped into a tie for 18th on 9-under.
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Maybank Championship Leaderboard
| Pos. | Player | To Par | R1 | R2 | R3 | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Miyu Yamashita | -18 | 65 | 66 | 67 | 198 |
| T2 | Yan Liu | -16 | 69 | 68 | 63 | 200 |
| T2 | Pauline Roussin-Bouchard | -16 | 64 | 69 | 67 | 200 |
| T4 | Marisa Tojai (a) | -14 | 72 | 65 | 65 | 202 |
| T4 | Robyn Choi | -14 | 67 | 69 | 66 | 202 |
| T6 | Aditi Ashok | -12 | 70 | 68 | 66 | 204 |
| T6 | Perrine Delacour | -12 | 66 | 71 | 67 | 204 |
| T6 | Julia López Ramirez | -12 | 67 | 66 | 71 | 204 |
| T9 | Minji Kang | -11 | 68 | 72 | 65 | 205 |
| T9 | Yuri Yoshida | -11 | 69 | 70 | 66 | 205 |
| T9 | Arpichaya Yubol | -11 | 67 | 72 | 66 | 205 |
| T9 | A Lim Kim | -11 | 70 | 64 | 71 | 205 |
| T13 | Lottie Woad | -10 | 71 | 70 | 65 | 206 |
| T13 | Soo Bin Joo | -10 | 70 | 68 | 68 | 206 |
| T13 | Carlota Ciganda | -10 | 73 | 63 | 70 | 206 |
| T13 | Amy Yang | -10 | 68 | 67 | 71 | 206 |
| T13 | Sophia Schubert | -10 | 65 | 70 | 71 | 206 |
| T18 | Weiwei Zhang | -9 | 71 | 71 | 65 | 207 |
| T18 | Achiraya Sriwong | -9 | 68 | 72 | 67 | 207 |
| T18 | Celine Boutier | -9 | 69 | 69 | 69 | 207 |
| T18 | Ruoning Yin | -9 | 68 | 70 | 69 | 207 |
| T18 | Karis Davidson | -9 | 70 | 67 | 70 | 207 |
| T18 | Hye-Jin Choi | -9 | 67 | 70 | 70 | 207 |
| T18 | Charley Hull | -9 | 66 | 69 | 72 | 207 |
| T25 | Cassie Porter | -8 | 69 | 73 | 66 | 208 |
| T25 | Esther Henseleit | -8 | 70 | 71 | 67 | 208 |
| T25 | Aki Iwai | -8 | 68 | 71 | 69 | 208 |
| T25 | Nataliya Guseva | -8 | 68 | 69 | 71 | 208 |
| T29 | Yana Wilson | -7 | 73 | 69 | 67 | 209 |
| T29 | Narin An | -7 | 71 | 70 | 68 | 209 |
| T29 | Gina Kim | -7 | 68 | 73 | 68 | 209 |
| T29 | Ana Belac | -7 | 72 | 67 | 70 | 209 |
| T29 | Linn Grant | -7 | 69 | 69 | 71 | 209 |
| T29 | Maja Stark | -7 | 68 | 67 | 74 | 209 |
| T35 | Pajaree Anannarukarn | -6 | 72 | 73 | 65 | 210 |
| T35 | Ayaka Furue | -6 | 68 | 76 | 66 | 210 |
| T35 | Carla Tejedo Mulet | -6 | 72 | 69 | 69 | 210 |
| T35 | Lindy Duncan | -6 | 69 | 71 | 70 | 210 |
| T35 | Youmin Hwang | -6 | 67 | 70 | 73 | 210 |
| T40 | Lauren Walsh | -5 | 75 | 71 | 65 | 211 |
| T40 | Hannah Green | -5 | 74 | 71 | 66 | 211 |
| T40 | Jin Hee Im | -5 | 73 | 68 | 70 | 211 |
| T43 | Amanda Doherty | -4 | 75 | 69 | 68 | 212 |
| T43 | Mirabel Ting | -4 | 75 | 68 | 69 | 212 |
| T43 | Chizzy Iwai | -4 | 73 | 70 | 69 | 212 |
| T43 | Wei-Ling Hsu | -4 | 70 | 72 | 70 | 212 |
| T47 | Lucy Li | -3 | 74 | 72 | 67 | 213 |
| T47 | Jodi Ewart Shadoff | -3 | 73 | 72 | 68 | 213 |
| T47 | Leona Maguire | -3 | 72 | 73 | 68 | 213 |
| T47 | Hinako Shibuno | -3 | 73 | 70 | 70 | 213 |
| T47 | Alexa Pano | -3 | 72 | 70 | 71 | 213 |
| T47 | Minami Katsu | -3 | 72 | 70 | 71 | 213 |
| T47 | Jin Young Ko | -3 | 69 | 73 | 71 | 213 |
| T47 | Anna Huang | -3 | 71 | 68 | 74 | 213 |
| T55 | Grace Kim | -2 | 73 | 70 | 71 | 214 |
| T55 | Jenny Bae | -2 | 71 | 72 | 71 | 214 |
| T55 | Chanettee Wannasaen | -2 | 72 | 69 | 73 | 214 |
| T58 | Patty Tavatanakit | -1 | 73 | 75 | 67 | 215 |
| T58 | Natasha Oon | -1 | 74 | 71 | 70 | 215 |
| T58 | Erika Hara | -1 | 70 | 74 | 71 | 215 |
| T61 | Jing Yan | Par | 71 | 73 | 72 | 216 |
| T61 | Liyana Durisic | Par | 67 | 73 | 76 | 216 |
| T63 | Yu Liu | +1 | 70 | 76 | 71 | 217 |
| T63 | Angel Yin | +1 | 69 | 75 | 73 | 217 |
| T63 | Suvichaya Vinijchaitham | +1 | 71 | 72 | 74 | 217 |
| T66 | Pimnipa Panthong | +2 | 78 | 74 | 66 | 218 |
| T66 | Mary Liu | +2 | 74 | 74 | 70 | 218 |
| T66 | Lydia Ko | +2 | 74 | 74 | 70 | 218 |
| T66 | Brooke Matthews | +2 | 75 | 71 | 72 | 218 |
| T70 | Manon De Roey | +3 | 72 | 77 | 70 | 219 |
| T70 | Melanie Green | +3 | 75 | 69 | 75 | 219 |
| T70 | Nanna Koerstz Madsen | +3 | 70 | 74 | 75 | 219 |
| T73 | Kelly Tan | +4 | 76 | 70 | 74 | 220 |
| T73 | Dewi Weber | +4 | 71 | 72 | 77 | 220 |
| 75 | Mi Hyang Lee | +5 | 69 | 78 | 74 | 221 |
| 76 | Genevieve Ling | +9 | 74 | 76 | 75 | 225 |
| 77 | Sarisa Pojanalai (a) | +11 | 77 | 74 | 76 | 227 |
| W/D | Haeran Ryu | - | - | - | - | - |
Simon Bale
Simon Bale is the publisher of Golf Today. A low single-figure handicap golfer, he was previously a major shareholder and course reviewer for Top100GolfCourses.com for over a decade, starting in 2010. Through this role, he developed extensive knowledge of golf course design and architecture while playing more than 300 courses worldwide.