Korean Sung Yu-jin soared into contention for her maiden LPGA title with a blistering round on home soil Saturday.
Sung shot a bogey-free round of nine-under 63 in the third round of the BMW Ladies Championship at Seowon Hills at Seowon Valley Country Club in Paju, northwest of Seoul in Gyeonggi Province.
At 16-under, Sung is two strokes behind the 54-hole leader, Hannah Green of Australia.
Sung and Green will play in the final group Sunday alongside Ashleigh Buhai of South Africa, who is alone in third place at 15-under.
Sung earned her LPGA card at the qualifying tournament last December. She made 12 cuts in 16 tournaments before this week, with her lone top-10 finish coming at a team event, the Dow Championship, in June.
The BMW Ladies Championship began in 2019, and South Korean player Jang Hana won the inaugural title. Following a one-year absence due to the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, another South Korean star, Ko Jin-young, won the 2021 tournament.
Then two players of Korean descent captured the next two BMW titles, with Lydia Ko of New Zealand winning in 2022 and Minjee Lee of Australia taking the 2023 trophy.
The second round could not be completed on Friday due to heavy downpours, leaving the par-72 course in unplayable conditions. Players had to finish their remaining holes of the second round early Saturday, before playing 18 holes for the third round.
Green carded consecutive rounds of 64s but faltered to a 70 in the third round. Sung made her charge in the third round, highlighted by six birdies on 스포츠토토사이트 the back nine. Sung hit 17 of 18 greens in regulation.
Another South Korean player lurking on the first page of the leaderboard is Ryu Hae-ran, the 2023 LPGA Rookie of the Year. Ryu shot a bogey-free 68 in the third round to move to 14-under.
Ryu is one of just two South Korean players to have won on the LPGA Tour this year, along with Amy Yang.
Lydia Ko is in an eight-way tie for eighth at 12-under, a group that includes two more South Korean players, Kim A-lim and Jenny Shin.
Minjee Lee is at 10-under after shooting a 66 in the third round.