Yu Hai-ran greets the gallery after completing her par putt on the 18th hole. [AFP]
Yu Hai-ran greets the gallery after completing her par putt on the 18th hole. [AFP]

Yu Hai-ran has moved into a 1-shot lead at the KPMG Women's PGA Championship, the third major of the LPGA Tour season.

Yu carded a 4-under-par 68 Saturday (Korean Standard Time) at Hazeltine National Golf Club (par 72) in Chaska, Minnesota, to reach 11-under 205 for the tournament, moving one stroke ahead of Brooke Henderson of Canada in second place.

Yu had opened the tournament with a 1-over 73 that left her tied for 70th, 10 strokes behind first-round leader Yun I-na. She stormed back with a bogey-free, 8-birdie 64 in the second round to climb into a tie for second, then added an eagle, four birdies and a bogey on moving day to take sole possession of the lead.

A victory for Yu would mark the first time in LPGA Tour history that a player who trailed the first-round leader by 10 strokes came back to win a major championship.

Entering the third round five shots behind Yun, Yu got off to a fast start with a 2-meter birdie on the par-4 1st hole, then converted another birdie on the par-4 5th after sticking her approach to within 3 meters of the pin. She kept the momentum going on the par-5 7th, reaching the green in two and draining an 8-meter eagle putt. Yu added a 1.5-meter birdie on the par-4 9th but gave a stroke back on the par-4 10th after driving into deep rough. She parred every remaining hole.

Henderson, who won this event at age 18 in 2016, shot a 3-under 69 with four birdies and a bogey to stand alone in second at 10-under 206.

Yun, who had led for two consecutive days, struggled with her ball-striking and putting, dropping three strokes on the day. She carded only three birdies against six bogeys to fall into sole third at 9-under 207, two shots off the lead heading into the final round.

Kim A-rim, the 2020 US Women's Open champion, birdied the par-4 18th hole from 3 meters to finish the day at 8-under 208, sharing fourth place with Davaey Weber of the Netherlands.

Nelly Korda of the United States, chasing three consecutive major titles for the first time since Park In-bee 13 years ago, managed only a 1-stroke improvement to sit at 7-under 209, tied for sixth with Allison Lee. Korda had won the previous major, the US Women's Open, after overcoming a 7-shot deficit.


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