Lee Jeong-eun 6's Promotion "Leap to Tied 3rd"... Lydia Ko Leads for Three Days

Lee Jeong-eun 6 Shines with 4-Under Par on Day 3 of CME Group Tour Championship
Maguire Shares Lead with Daily Best 9-Under Par, Kim Hyo-joo Tied 7th
Lee Min-ji and Korda Tied 12th, Titikun Tied 19th, Ko Jin-young Tied 40th

Lee Jeong-eun 6 is teeing off at the 3rd hole on the third day of the CME Group Tour Championship. Naples, USA - Photo by AFP Yonhap News

[Asia Economy Reporter No Woo-rae] It is the strong performance of Lee Jeong-eun6 (26).

On the 19th (local time), Lee Jeong-eun6 recorded 4 under par on the third day of the CME Group Tour Championship (total prize money $7 million), the final event of the 2022 LPGA Tour season, held at Tiburon Golf Club Black Course (par 72, 6,556 yards) in Naples, Florida, USA, to jump to a tie for 3rd place (10 under par 206 strokes). 'LPGA Drive Champ' Leona Maguire (Ireland) and 'Player of the Year No.1' Lydia Ko (New Zealand) share the lead (15 under par 201 strokes).

Starting from a tie for 7th place, 7 strokes behind, Lee Jeong-eun6 made 6 birdies and 2 bogeys. Although she started shakily with consecutive bogeys on holes 3 and 4, she changed the momentum with her first birdie on the 8th hole (par 3), and joined the under-par group with back-to-back birdies on holes 10 and 11. She then showed strong finishing power with birdies on the 14th hole (par 5) and consecutive birdies on holes 17 and 18. Her 100% fairway hit rate and 25 putts were the driving force. She is 5 strokes behind the joint leaders and in a position to expect her second career win since her 2019 US Women's Open victory.

Maguire surged with 9 under par to dominate the top of the leaderboard. She is a player who won her first career victory at the LPGA Drive On Championship in February. Lydia Ko reduced 2 strokes to maintain the lead for the third consecutive day. Gemma Dryburgh (Scotland) is tied for 3rd place. 'Top money earner' Minjee Lee (Australia) and world No.1 Nelly Korda (USA) are tied for 12th place (6 under par 210 strokes), and 'Rookie of the Year' Atthaya Thitikul (Thailand) remained tied for 19th place (5 under par 211 strokes).

From Korea, 'Lotte Championship champ' Kim Hyo-joo (27) exchanged 3 birdies and 3 bogeys, standing tied for 7th place (8 under par 208 strokes). 'Second in prize money' Jeon In-ji (28) added 2 under par to sit tied for 22nd place (4 under par 212 strokes). Kim Se-young (29) and Choi Woon-jung (32) are tied for 28th place (3 under par 213 strokes). Ko Jin-young (27), who was aiming for a third consecutive tournament win, made 5 birdies and 2 bogeys to reduce 3 strokes. She rose from a tie for 49th place the previous day to a tie for 40th place (even par 216 strokes).