SHANGHAI – After an inauspicious start with a bogey on her opening hole, Angel Yin produced fireworks as she fired eight birdies in Saturday’s third round of the Buick LPGA Shanghai.
The American signed for a seven-under 65 in hazy conditions that saw her rocket up the leaderboard into a share of the lead at 12-under 204 alongside Maja Stark. The Swede, who had a one-stroke lead after two rounds, carded a 70 at the Qizhong Garden Golf Club.
Yin, 25, is still searching for her first win on the LPGA Tour. The world No. 35, whose mother Michelle emigrated from China to the United States, said of her reaction to that first hole: “I yelled at my caddie, I actually did.
“I wasn’t yelling at him but, I was like, ‘I think our communication is not great, we’re going to work on it.’ Then we just did it.”
She three-putted the first hole but needed only 25 putts after that and, in a ball-striking clinic, missed just one green in regulation.
She added: “I just knew I was hitting it good. So I know I just need to stick to that. Like yesterday (she shot 69 on Friday) showed me that I blatantly left four strokes out there. I was like, okay, conditions were tough but I got the game.”
The US$2.1 million (S$2.9 million) tournament is the LPGA’s first return to China since 2019 because of the Covid-19 pandemic. It is the start of a four-event Asia swing, with later stops in South Korea, Malaysia and Japan.
Stark, 23, won the ISPS Handa World Invitational in August 2022 for her maiden Tour title.
She had four birdies and two bogeys and admitted to some nerves. “It would mean a lot to win it just to prove to myself that I can actually do it when we have a lot of top players here,” said the world No. 42.
On her round, she said: “Wasn’t the best. Maybe a lot of you noticed that my irons weren’t very good today. I’m very proud of the way I putted and my short game worked very well, so I am feeling like my old self where I can. I don’t have to hit that many good shots to actually score well.”
Thai Pavarisa Yoktuan bogeyed her final hole for a 69 and was a shot back in third on 205. World No. 1 Lilia Vu, seeking her fourth victory in 2023, had her second-straight 67 and was joint-third with Lee Mi-hyang (67) and Ariya Jutanugarn (68) on 206.
Vu said: “I used to not look at leaderboards because I think just the fear. Now I don’t let that fear control me, so I just look... I usually tend to play better as the week goes on, like more reps in.”
Fellow American and two-time defending champion (2018-19) Danielle Kang shot a 73 and was four strokes behind the leaders on 208.
The highest-placed Chinese golfer was Liu Yu. She had a 72 and was on 207, tied-seventh with Germany’s Esther Henseleit (70). Liu was tied-ninth and tied-third for the first two editions of the tournament in 2018 and 2019 respectively.
