World No. 3 Yoo Hae-ran, competing in a Korea Ladies Professional Golf (KLPGA) Tour event for the first time in two years and two months, has claimed the sole lead after the third round of the Hite Jinro Championship, the final major tournament of the season.

Playing the third round at Blue Heron Golf Club in Yeoju, Gyeonggi Province, Yoo shot 1-over par with three birdies and four bogies.

With a total of 1-under par, Yoo moved to the top of the leaderboard, leading second-place Yu Seo-yeon (Yu Seo-yeon 2) by one stroke.

Yoo, who achieved back-to-back major victories on the U.S. Women's Professional Golf (LPGA) Tour this season, is playing in a KLPGA Tour event for the first time since the Jeju Samdasoo Masters in August 2024, putting her in a position to challenge for a domestic major title.

Yoo has accumulated four wins on the KLPGA Tour, but none of them are domestic major titles.

Yu Seo-yeon trimmed five strokes in the third round alone to jump to sole second place at even par overall, trailing the leader by a single stroke and putting herself in contention for her first regular tour victory. Meanwhile, Kim Min-sol, who led the first and second rounds, dropped five strokes to tie for third at 1-over par overall.

Kim Min-sol, who has notched three wins including one major this season and currently trails Seo Gyo-rim (four wins) for second place in multi-wins, prize money rankings, and the Daesang points race, is aiming for her second major title following the Korea Women's Open in June, alongside her fourth win of the season.

Lee Ye-won and Seo Eo-jin tied with Kim Min-sol for third place.

Seo Gyo-rim, who has recorded four wins including one major this season and leads all major categories including multi-wins, prize money rankings, Daesang points, and scoring average, dropped three strokes in the third round to tie for 32nd place at 8-over par overall.

The tournament, which features a total purse of 1.5 billion won and a winner's prize of 270 million won, runs through tomorrow (the 4th).

(Photo: Provided by KLPGA, Yonhap News)