Calm Lin in control

Nothing could prepare Lin Xiyu for yesterday's third round of the HSBC Women's World Championship at the Sentosa Golf Club.

Not only did the Chinese golfer fire a five-under 67 to seize the tournament lead - the first time she has ever been in this position after 54 holes on the LPGA Tour - but she also watched in disbelief as her playing partners, overnight co-leaders Park In-bee and Park Hee-young, dramatically collapsed on the back nine.

Lin, whose 14-under 202 was one clear of Australian Hannah Green (66) and In-bee (70), has yet to win a Tour title but showed the composure needed to end that wait. The Chinese world No. 86 birdied three of her last four holes and her closing 32 was the lowest of the 69-player field.

Her poise was in stark contrast to her South Korean flight-mates. In-bee had built up a five-shot lead after 10 holes thanks to four birdies but saw her effort erased with a series of uncharacteristic mistakes, which included an overhit wedge that found the water and led to a double-bogey seven on the 16th.

Incredibly, Hee-young signed for a nine on that hole and finished bogey-bogey for a 79 that ended her title challenge. She is on 212 and tied-21st.

For Lin, whose last significant win was the 2019 China Open on the China LPGA Tour, it was a reminder how treacherous the New Tanjong Course can be. She said: "Tomorrow's going to be a brand new experience for me but today's round gives me lots of confidence."

A tap-in birdie on 18th after a fine approach shot did wonders for her self-belief. The 25-year-old said: "The last few holes, I also made some aggressive, clutch putts. I'm pretty proud of myself."

So too, was In-bee despite the string of errors. She converted from eight feet for a birdie on the final hole and described the significance of just being one shot behind Lin as "huge". Twice a winner in this event (2015, 2017), the world No. 2 added: "That probably gives me a chance to win tomorrow."

Green, 24, will also fancy her chances of capturing the US$1.6 million (S$2.1 million) tournament. Her third-round 66 matched Friday's performance and the world No. 14, who is making her competition debut here, is a quick learner, particularly around the undulating greens.

She needed just 24 putts yesterday - after 30 on Thursday and 28 on Friday - and said: "I made sure if I missed my irons I missed them in the right places."

Mexican Gaby Lopez's 65 included nine birdies and was the best round of the day to move up to fourth on 204. On 206 and still in contention was former world No. 1 Lydia Ko, whose 69 featured an eagle on the last hole.

Lopez, 27, said: "I didn't set up a number in my mind honestly. The goal was to be fearless, be as strong mentally as possible and not let one mistake take my confidence away."

The two-time Tour winner, ranked 59th in the world, said she would continue attacking the pins today: "I'm going to press the gas pedal down and go, go, go. I'm not going to protect anything because I don't have anything to protect."

Defending champion Park Sung-hyun's title bid ended on Thursday after she opened with a 78. Rounds of 71 and 70 put her tied-52nd on 219. Fellow Korean and top-ranked Ko Jin-young (67) is tied-38th on 214 while Singapore's Amanda Tan shot a 77 and is last on 13-over 229.

---

HSBC WOMEN'S WORLD C'SHIP

Day 4: StarHub Ch204 and Mediacorp Ch5, 10.30am

---

LEADERBOARD

202 Lin Xiyu (Chn) 67 68 67

203 Hannah Green (Aus) 71 66 66

Park In-bee 64 69 70

204 Gaby Lopez (Mex) 68 71 65

206 Chun In-gee 71 69 66

Lydia Ko (Nzl) 69 68 69

Ryu So-yeon 67 69 70

207 Madelene Sagstrom (Swe) 69 70 68

208 Patty Tavatanakit (Tha) 70 70 68

214 Ko Jin-young 71 76 67

219 Park Sung-hyun 78 71 70

229 Amanda Tan (Sgp) 76 76 77

*Kor unless stated

---

TEE TIMES

9.01am Kim Hyo-joo, Patty

9.13am Sagstrom, Yang

9.25am Lopez, Chun In-gee, Ko

9.37am Lin, Green, In-bee

7.30am Jin-young

7.42am Feng Shanshan

8.30am Sung-hyun

9.30am Tan

For full list, visit www.lpga.com/tournaments/hsbc-womens-world-championship/pairings