Shin Ji-ae Takes the Lead... 'Victory GO~ After 12 Years'

AIG Women's Open 3R 5-Under Surge
Boo 2nd, World No.1 Korda 3rd in Title Race
Lydia Ko and Shin Ji-eun Tied 4th, Lim Jin-hee 6th

Veteran Shin Ji-ae has laid the groundwork for a major victory.

Shin Ji-ae is teeing off at the 17th hole during the third round of the AIG Women's Open. [St Andrews (Scotland) = AFP·Yonhap News]

On the 24th (local time), at the St Andrews Old Course (par 72, 6,784 yards) in St Andrews, Scotland, UK, during the third round of the final major tournament of the LPGA Tour season, the AIG Women's Open (total prize money $9.5 million), Shin shot a 5-under 67 to take the top spot on the leaderboard with a total of 7-under 209. Defending champion Lilia Vu was in second place at 6-under 210, and world No. 1 Nelly Korda (both from the USA) stood in third place at 5-under 211.

Starting from a tie for 11th place, 6 strokes behind, Shin recorded seven birdies and two bogeys. Currently ranked 30th in the world, she is a veteran with a total of 64 wins across various tours. She achieved her first LPGA Tour victory at this tournament when it was known as the British Women's Open in 2008, and reached her 10th career win here in 2012. Leading by one stroke, she now has a chance to claim the title at this event for the first time in 12 years.

Shin recalled, "On the 17th hole (par 4), I had 205 yards left and hit my second shot with a 20-degree hybrid. Since I had made bogeys in the past two days, my thought was just to get the ball from the fairway onto the green, but it ended up close." She added, "This is only my third time playing at St Andrews, but I have a lot of experience on links courses. So today, I am using all of my skills." She emphasized, "Although I made two bogeys, anyone can have those, and it’s nothing. I just keep focusing."

Yesterday’s leader, Korda, lost three strokes and dropped from the top spot. Shin Ji-eun improved by two strokes to climb to a tie for 4th place (4-under 212) alongside Paris Olympic gold medalist Lydia Ko (New Zealand). Lim Jin-hee finished tied for 6th (3-under 213), Kim Hyo-joo tied for 16th (1-under 215), and Lee So-mi ended the third round tied for 19th (even par 216). Yang Hee-young, winner of the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship last June, is tied for 27th (1-over 217) along with C?line Boutier (France) and Rose Zhang (USA).