2 MARCH, SINGAPORE – Japan’s Ayaka Furue remains the player to catch after carding a third round four-under-par 68 to stay on course of ending her two-year title drought at the HSBC Women’s World Championship at the Sentosa Golf Club on Saturday.
Furue traded five birdies against one bogey to compile a three-day total of 10-under-par 206, giving her a two-shot advantage over Australia’s Hannah Green, who returned with another 67.
Overnight leader Celine Boutier of France and American Andrea Lee are a further shot back in equal third place after signing for rounds of 72 and 67 respectively.
Like the tropical weather in Singapore, Furue got off to a hot start with two successive birdies on holes one and two. After making pars on the third and fourth holes, the 23-year-old continued to make her way up the leaderboard with birdies on the fifth and seventh holes before turning in 32.
Furue’s only blemish came at the par-four 12 where she would quickly respond with another birdie on 13 before carding five straight pars to reach the pinnacle of the leaderboard.
“The birdies on my front-nine holes just kind of kept my momentum going. So, that was really good for me. I was only thinking of catching up with Celine today and making birdies.
“It was really hard to read the green on the first day. But after playing the first day, I kind of maintained my putting and I kept going on. I’ll continue to keep my energy and focus tomorrow, but right now, I just feel excited to be on the top of the leaderboard,” said Furue.
Green was also pleased with her efforts that have skyrocketed her from a share of ninth place to outright second, putting her in contention to win her fourth LPGA title.
“I felt good again. I didn’t really hit many greens again today or fairways, but I managed to hit it in the right areas to give myself the best chance to make par.
“That was important today, as I’m not sure how the weather will be tomorrow,” said Green, who finished runner-up in the 2021 HSBC Women’s World Championship.
Boutier, meanwhile, cut a frustrating figure as she felt let down by the inconsistency with her long game. The 30-year-old got off to a shaky start with two bogeys in her opening four holes. She recovered momentarily with a birdie on five but dropped another shot on six before an eagle-three on eight helped to get her back into the mix.
“It’s frustrating because I feel like my game was so different and not where it needs to be. I didn’t really have the best of starts as I missed a few greens on the front nine, had a chip-in on eight to get me back to even, and then I kind of scrambled from there.
“My long game was definitely not as good as yesterday but I was able to save a lot of pars. But overall, I’m happy to have another chance at it tomorrow,” said Boutier.
Defending champion Ko Jin-young, who is gunning for an unprecedented hat-trick of titles at the championship, moved into contention with a 66 after starting slowly with earlier rounds of 71 and 73.
When asked of her chances of creating tournament history at the HSBC Women’s World Championship, Ko cheekily said: “It’ll be a great honour if I do win tomorrow. And, if I manage to do that, I will buy house in Singapore! But I heard it’s really expensive here in Singapore.”
World No. 1 Lilia Vu of the United States also made up for a disappointing day on Friday by bouncing back with a 68 to stay five shots back of Furue in tied-ninth place.
“Yesterday was really not a good putting day for me. I knew that was not me. I was just waiting for today to come so I could make more birdies,” said Vu.
The HSBC Women’s World Championship boasts an international field with representation from 22 countries across the world.
*Credit Info & Images www.hsbcgolf.com
