Park In-bee '2-shot lead'... "Opening tournament victory in sight~"

Diamond Resort Tournament Day 3: 4 Under Par, Kim Seyoung 2nd, Hataoka 3rd

Park In-bee is making an iron shot on the 13th hole on the third day of the Diamond Resort Tournament. Lake Buena Vista, Florida, USA = Getty Images / Multibits Photo by Getty Images

[Asia Economy Golf Specialist Reporter Kim Hyun-jun] 'Golf Queen' Park In-bee (32, KB Financial Group) took a step closer to her first victory of the new year.

On the 19th (Korean time), at the Four Seasons Golf & Sports Club in Lake Buena Vista, Florida, USA (par 71, 6,645 yards), during the third day of the 2020 LPGA Tour season opener, the Diamond Resort Tournament (total prize money $1.2 million), she shot 4-under par to rise to a 2-stroke lead (13-under par 200). Kim Sei-young (27, Mirae Asset) is in second place (11-under par 202), and Hataoka Nasa (Japan) is in third place (10-under par 203) chasing behind.

Park In-bee started tied for the lead and recorded five birdies and one bogey. After 'stepping stone birdies' on holes 7 and 9, she swept three consecutive birdies from holes 13 to 15 on the back nine. Her 'computer iron shots,' missing the green only twice, stood out. The bogey on the final 18th hole (par 3) was rather regrettable. Since her win at the Founders Cup in March 2018, she has been anxious without a victory. This is a great opportunity to secure her first win of the new season and her 20th career victory in 1 year and 10 months.

Park In-bee is further motivated by the chance to secure a spot for the Tokyo Olympics this August. She must be ranked within the top 15 in the world rankings by June and be among the top 4 Korean players. Currently, she is sixth at 16th place, following Korea's No. 1 Ko Jin-young (25), No. 2 Park Sung-hyun (27), No. 5 Kim Sei-young, No. 7 Lee Jeong-eun6 (24, Daebang Construction), and No. 13 Kim Hyo-joo (25, Lotte). This is why she started the season early. She expressed confidence, saying, "My shots were generally good today," and "I will do my best until the end."

Kim Sei-young also lowered her score by 4 strokes. She is aiming for back-to-back wins in two tournaments following last year's season finale, the CME Group Tour Championship. The leaders include Celine Boutier (France) in 4th place (9-under par 204) and Brooke Henderson (Canada) tied for 5th place (8-under par 205). Among Koreans, Hur Mi-jung (31, Daebang Construction) is tied for 11th (4-under par 209), Yang Hee-young (31) is tied for 19th (even par 213), and defending champion Ji Eun-hee (34) is in 25th place (4-over par 217).