Four-under 68 lifts him to 12-under 204; Kim Sung-hyun withdraws with toe injury

Jang Yu-bin smiles at the gallery on the tee box during the third round of the 42nd Shinhan Donghae Open on Saturday.
Jang Yu-bin smiles at the gallery on the tee box during the third round of the 42nd Shinhan Donghae Open on Saturday.

Jang Yu-bin moved one step closer to a third KPGA Tour victory this season, sitting in second place after the third round of the 42nd Shinhan Donghae Open, which carries a purse of 1.5 billion won ($1.12 million).

Jang carded a four-under 68 on Saturday at Jack Nicklaus Golf Club Korea's Urban and Links courses (par 72) in Incheon, posting five birdies against one bogey.

After sitting tied for third at eight-under 136 through two rounds, Jang moved to 12-under 204 to share second place with Japan's Ohori Yujiro. He trails sole leader Sunagawa Kosuke of Japan — who fired a seven-under round to reach 13-under 203 — by just one stroke heading into the final round.

Jang has won twice this season, taking titles at the KPGA Classic and the Hana Bank Invitational in June, and leads the tour in both Genesis Points (3,642.7) and prize money (589.81 million won).

Jang built early momentum with birdies at the first (par 4), third (par 5) and sixth (par 4) holes, but dropped his only bogey at the seventh (par 5) after a wayward tee shot into the trees left him needing four strokes to reach the green, finishing the hole with a two-putt.

He recovered cleanly on the back nine, draining an approximately four-meter putt for birdie at the 11th (par 4) and picking up another stroke at the 18th (par 5) to close bogey-free and raise expectations heading into the final round.

"It's a shame I only made one birdie on the par fives, but everything else was solid overall," Jang said. "Tomorrow I need to stay bogey-free and take as many strokes off as possible on the par fives. Being in the final pairing won't change my strategy."

The Shinhan Donghae Open is co-sanctioned by the KPGA Tour and the Japan Golf Tour Organization. The winner receives a five-year KPGA Tour exemption along with a two-year JGTO exemption.

Jung Chan-min, Ok Tae-hoon, Lee Sang-hee and Lee Tae-hoon of Canada are tied for fifth at nine-under 207, while Moon Do-yeop — who held the outright lead after the second round and is set to represent Korea at the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games — slipped to a tie for 11th at eight-under 208 after dropping two shots.

Kim Sung-hyun, who is also set to compete at the Asian Games alongside Moon, withdrew with a toe injury after completing holes 10 through 18 on Saturday.


yjc@heraldcorp.com