Four-under 68 moves her to 5-under par total; one stroke ahead of Park Bo-gyeom, Yoo Seo-yeon

Park Ye-ji hits an iron shot on the second hole during Round 3 of the KB Financial Golden Life Championship on Saturday. [KLPGA]
Park Ye-ji hits an iron shot on the second hole during Round 3 of the KB Financial Golden Life Championship on Saturday. [KLPGA]

Park Ye-ji surged to the solo lead Saturday in the third round of the KB Financial Golden Life Championship, the third major of the KLPGA Tour season, which carries a purse of 1.5 billion won ($1.12 million).

Playing at Blackstone Golf Club Icheon (par 72) in Icheon, Gyeonggi Province, Park carded seven birdies and three bogeys for a four-under-par 68.

Her 54-hole total of five-under-par 211 put her one stroke clear of the joint second-place pairing of Park Bo-gyeom and Yoo Seo-yeon, both at four-under 212. Park opened the tournament with an even-par round that left her tied for 20th, moved up to a share of seventh with a one-under second round, then seized the outright lead on Saturday.

A former amateur national team member, Park made her professional tour debut in 2024 but struggled to make an impact, spending much of last season on the second-tier Dream Tour before returning to the main tour this year. She has recorded three top-10 finishes this season, including a runner-up finish at the Lotte Open in July.

On the front nine Saturday, Park traded two birdies for two bogeys, then dropped another shot at the par-4 11th. She found her form on the back nine, reeling off three consecutive birdies starting at the par-4 12th, then adding back-to-back birdies at the par-3 16th and par-4 17th to claim the top spot.

"After missing about three makeable par putts and falling to over par, I refocused and locked in on each shot in front of me — and the birdie putts that wouldn't drop on the front nine started falling one after another on the back," Park said. "I want to stay deeply focused on my own game without thinking about the score, just like I did on the back nine today."

Hong Jin-young, who had led after the first two rounds, dropped four shots to fall into a tie for fourth at three-under 213. Seo Gyo-rim, who leads the season points standings with 519 points on the strength of four wins this year, finished tied for sixth at two-under 214 after giving back three strokes.

Noh Seung-hee poses with a Mercedes-Benz E 200 AMG Line she received as a hole-in-one prize.
Noh Seung-hee poses with a Mercedes-Benz E 200 AMG Line she received as a hole-in-one prize.

Noh Seung-hee, who finished the round tied for 15th at even-par 216, recorded her first hole-in-one on the KLPGA Tour when her 7-iron tee shot found the cup at the par-3 16th hole (171 yards), earning her a Mercedes-Benz vehicle worth 80 million won as a prize.

"I once joked that if I ever made a hole-in-one on a hole with a car prize, I'd give the car to my mom and retire on the spot — I never thought it would happen this soon," she said. "I'll have to put retirement on hold, but I'm so happy I get to give my mom a nice car."

Kim Min-sol, the season's leading money winner with 1.37 billion won from three victories this year, finished tied for 46th at six-over-par 222.


yjc@heraldcorp.com