Kim Hyo-joo Faces Uphill Battle for Third Straight Win, Tied for 13th After Round 3 at LET Aramco Korea

Kim Hyo-joo failed to narrow the gap with the leader on the third day of the Ladies European Tour (LET) Aramco Korea Championship, throwing a red light on her bid for a third consecutive tournament victory.

Playing the third round of the tournament at New Korea Country Club in Goyang, Gyeonggi Province, Kim carded a 2-under-par 70 with four birdies and two bogeys.

With a cumulative total of 7-under 209, Kim tied for 13th place, six strokes behind Miyu Yamashita (13-under 203), who shaved four strokes off her score to maintain her lead for the second consecutive day.

Kim will make her final push toward achieving her third straight tournament title in the fourth and final round.

Meanwhile, former world No. 1 Yani Tseng of Taiwan moved up to second place, one stroke behind Yamashita, after carding six birdies without a bogey, setting the stage for a potential comeback victory.

Kim had a rocky start, dropping her first bogey on the 3rd hole (par 4), but bounced back with birdies on the 5th hole (par 5) and 8th hole (par 5) to finish the front nine 1-under.

After stringing together pars early in the back nine, Kim looked to build momentum with a birdie on the 14th hole (par 4), but lost steam with a bogey on the 15th hole (par 3) before wrapping up her third round by picking up another stroke with a birdie on the 17th hole (par 5).

Park Sung-hyun, who had climbed to a tie for second the previous day, struggled with one eagle, three birdies, three bogeys, and one double bogey to shoot an even-par 72, dropping to a tie for 13th at 7-under 209 overall.

In addition, amateur Kim Kyu-bin shot a 4-under 68 featuring seven birdies alongside a bogey and a double bogey, moving up to a tie for 13th at 7-under 209 alongside Kim Hyo-joo and Park Sung-hyun.

(Photo courtesy of Aramco Korea Championship, Yonhap News)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.