Lee Jeong-eun 5 "1 Under Par Breather"... Grant Leads by 6 Strokes

Lee Jeong-eun 5 Stumbles at Dana Open 3rd Round, Tied 14th
Kopuz, Pasi, Kastren, Kyriakou Tied 2nd
Lee Min-ji 7th, Kim Se-young 18th, Ko Jin-young 31st

It is a breather for veteran Lee Jeong-eun 5.

On the 15th (local time), Lee Jeong-eun 5 reduced one stroke to tie for 14th place (9-under 204) in the third round of the Dana Open (total prize money $1.75 million) on the LPGA Tour, held at Highland Meadows Golf Club (par 71, 6,555 yards) in Sylvania, Ohio, USA. Linn Grant (Sweden) leads with 18-under 195, while US Women's Open champion Allyson Koepka (USA), Maria Fassi (Mexico), Matilda Castren (Finland), and Stephanie Kyriacou (Australia) are tied for second place at 12-under 201.

Lee Jeong-eun 5 is making an iron shot on the 10th hole of the third round at the Dana Open. [Sylvania (USA) = AFP·Yonhap News]

Starting from a tie for 5th place, three strokes behind, Lee Jeong-eun 5 made four birdies and two bogeys. In the first six holes, she struggled with one birdie and three bogeys, posting 2-over par. However, in the back nine, she showed strong finishing power with stepping-stone birdies on holes 11 and 13, followed by a birdie on the 17th hole (par 5). Her 100% fairway hit rate was impressive. Although she is nine strokes behind the leader, she is only three strokes behind the group tied for second.

Lee Jeong-eun 5 has won five times in total, including one major, on the Korean LPGA (KLPGA) Tour before moving to the US stage in 2015. She has yet to win on the LPGA Tour but has entered the top 10 seven times. Her best individual LPGA Tour result is a tie for second at the Cambia Portland Classic in September 2021, where Ko Jin-young was the winner.

Grant collected one eagle and eight birdies (one bogey). She surged to a six-stroke lead, seizing her first career victory opportunity. She is a second-year player who debuted last year. Annie Park (USA), who was leading by two strokes the previous day, failed to reduce her score and dropped to a tie for seventh place (11-under 202). Minjee Lee (Australia) is also tied for seventh, defending champion Gaby Lopez (Mexico) is tied for ninth (10-under 203), and Lydia Ko (New Zealand) is tied for 24th (6-under 207).

From Korea, Kim Se-young surged with 5-under par to rise to a tie for 18th place (8-under 205). Choi Hye-jin and Yoo Hae-ran joined the group tied for 24th. Ko Jin-young, the longest-reigning world number one, lost one stroke with three birdies and four bogeys, tying for 31st place (4-under 209) with Jeon In-ji. Kim A-rim is tied for 40th (3-under 210), Park Sung-hyun tied for 59th (1-under 212), and Lee Mi-hyang finished the third round tied for 66th (1-over 214).