Heading into the final round of the Maybank Championship, it seems likely that Korea’s Hye Jin Choi will finally get her first career LPGA Tour win.
Choi entered the second round with a five-stroke lead at -14 after rounds of 64 and 66, the lowest in the field of each respective day. She did have a steady group of strong chasers though, led by major champions Ruoning Yin and Hannah Green.
A third round -5 67 was enough though to keep a strong hold on the tournament, as she leads China’s Yan Liu by four strokes at -19.
Choi made a couple early birdies on holes three and four to shoot -2 on the front nine. Despite a late hiccup on 16, her back nine was even stronger with four birdies. For the week, Choi has missed just eight fairways, 11 greens and has only 79 putts.
Chasing Choi is a loaded leaderboard that includes Green, A Lim Kim, Jeeno Thitikul, Ayaka Furue, Akie Iwai, Linn Grant, Lydia Ko and Ruoning Yin all in the top 10. While she has a steady lead, it is likely that at least a couple of these superstars go low, giving her little room for error.
Green herself had a pretty crazy day that included a double bogey on the par 5 third and a bogey on the par 5 sixth. Her putter was in good form though and she still hit a lot of greens. If she can eliminate the mistakes, she will be in good position on Sunday.
The final round of the Maybank Championship kicks off tonight on Golf Channel.
About the Author
