After a birdie on the finishing hole, Xiyu Lin holds the solo 54-hole lead at -14 at the HSBC Women’s World Championship after a third-round 66. Lin, who is sleeping on the lead heading into the final round for the first time in her career, rebounded quick after settling her nerves on No. 1.

“The first hole I was really nervous. I thought like I'm going to hit longer because I'm nervous, but obviously I wasn't that nervous, so I left it short and left the putt short. So I just tell myself, like yesterday I had two bogeys and I bounced back with a birdie right away. I said, definitely I can do that,” said Lin. “Second hole was a tough pin but I managed to hit it at the right spot and make the putt. That was pretty huge.”

Lin went to record seven birdies on the day with four coming in her last six holes, of which included a solid set-up on No. 18. “The last hole, when I did the pin, I was thinking, wow, it was a tough one, but I didn't know they moved the tee up, so when I really got there and so it kind of gave me a new view of the hole because I never played here before. I hit a good drive and realize I still have a chance to go for it,” said Lin. “I was a little in-between clubs, but that wind fits my shape of shot perfectly and hit a cut and landed right next to the hole.”

Second-round co-leader Inbee Park got off to a hot start with four birdies in her first nine holes, but struggled at the turn. After holding the lead for much of Saturday, Park doubled No. 16 - her second double bogey of the 2021 season – to drop out of the top spot. A birdie on the last hole left her in a tie for second along with major champion Hannah Green at -13.

“The putting overall today was not that bad. Just one missed shot, the third shot on No. 16. Yeah, I think it's coming along,” said Park. “It was a great birdie on No. 18. That really got me probably have a chance to win tomorrow, so I think that was really huge. Tomorrow obviously we have a lot of girls in the top it's going to be a shootout, whoever plays good tomorrow is going to win.”

Green shot a second-consecutive 6-under 66, but the Australian’s favorite moment of the day came from an eagle on No. 10.

“I guess it's been quite a long time since I've holed out from the fairway from quite some distance. I hit my tee shot into the right rough. Had an 8-iron in and it hit the pin. Bounced, hit the pin and went in. That was a nice bonus,” said Green. “I do think if it didn't hit the pin, it was going to race a little by it, probably still on the green. Yeah, that was a lot of fun and gave me some good momentum to make a couple par saves on the next two holes.”

Gaby Lopez tied her season-best round with a 65 to sit in fourth heading into Sunday. Three major champions are tied for fifth at -10 – In Gee Chun, Lydia Ko and So Yeon Ryu. LPGA Tour winners Madelene Sagstrom, Amy Yang and Hyo Joo Kim are -9 overall, five shots out of the lead in a tie for eighth. Hee Young Park, who co-led heading into Saturday, fell into a tie for 21st after a quadruple bogey on No. 16 and five additional bogeys on the back-nine to finish +7 and at -4 overall. Defending champion Sung Hyun Park is T52 at +3.

XIYU LIN TAKES OUTRIGHT LEAD HEADING INTO FINAL DAY IN SINGAPORE

Related Articles