Lim Jin-hee Leads by 1 Point: "Seized Chance for 2nd Win of the Season"

Im Jin-hee Dongbu Construction·Korea Land Trust 3R 35 Points Lead
Lee Ga-young 1 Point Behind in 2nd, Kim Su-ji·Jung Yoon-ji Tied 3rd, Park Hyun-kyung·Lee Ye-won Tied 5th

Im Jin-hee is making an iron shot on the 1st hole of the 3rd round at the Dongbu Construction Korea Land Trust Championship. Photo by KLPGA

[Asia Economy Reporter Seohee Lee] Im Jin-hee (24) is closing in on her second win of the season.

On the 15th, Im Jin-hee scored 14 points with 1 eagle, 5 birdies, and 1 bogey in the third round of the KLPGA Tour Dongbu Construction·Korea Land Trust held at Iksan Country Club (par 72) in Iksan, Jeonbuk. She is leading with a total of 35 points.

The tournament is played in a modified Stableford format. Rankings are determined by adding the points awarded for each score rather than the number of strokes. An albatross is worth 8 points, an eagle 5 points, a birdie 2 points, a bogey -1 point, and a double bogey or worse -3 points.

Starting at the 1st hole, Im Jin-hee earned 4 points by recording consecutive birdies on the 2nd and 4th holes. The highlight came at the 7th hole (par 4). With 116 meters remaining, she struck a ball stuck in the rough and directly made a shot eagle. She added one birdie each on the 9th and 11th holes (both par 4). Although she made a bogey on the 13th hole (par 3), she recorded another birdie on the 17th hole (par 5).

Attention is focused on whether Im Jin-hee can seize the opportunity for her second win of the season in this tournament. Im Jin-hee won her first victory of the season at the McCol·Monapark Open last July but has not achieved notable results since then. The only top 10 finish after her win was 8th place at the Hanwha Classic in August.

Lee Ga-young (23) caught 6 birdies without any bogeys. She earned 12 points and rose one spot from the previous day to 2nd place (34 points), just 1 point behind the leader.

Kim Su-ji (26), who is ranked first in the points race and is challenging for her third win of the season, swept up 8 birdies (2 bogeys) and added 14 points, recording the daily best score. With a total of 31 points, she jumped 6 places from the previous day to tie for 3rd place. Jung Yoon-ji (22) also added 13 points to join the group tied for 3rd.

“Daughter of Iksan,” Park Hyun-kyung (22), who attracted many galleries, added 6 points with 4 birdies and 2 bogeys. She remained tied for 5th place with a total of 30 points, dropping 3 places from the previous day. Lee Ye-won (19), the “star rookie” who was leading until the previous day, only earned 3 points and fell to a tie for 5th place.