Park Ye-ji hits an iron shot on the second hole. [Photo=KLPGA]
Park Ye-ji hits an iron shot on the second hole. [Photo=KLPGA]

Park Ye-ji has moved to the top of the leaderboard at the KB Financial Group Golden Life Championship, the third major of the KLPGA Tour season, which carries a purse of 1.5 billion won ($1.12 million).

Park carded a 4-under-par 68 in the third round Saturday at Blackstone Icheon Golf Club (par 72, 6,816 yards) in Icheon, Gyeonggi Province, posting seven birdies against three bogeys. Her three-round total of 5-under-par 211 puts her one stroke ahead of joint runners-up Park Bo-gyeom and Yoo Seo-yeon 2.

Park opened the tournament with an even-par round that left her tied for 20th, then moved up to a share of seventh after a 1-under second round. She surged into sole possession of the lead on moving day with a blistering performance, sinking birdie putts from as close as 50 centimeters to as far as 6 meters.

Park traded two birdies and two bogeys on the front nine without making net progress, then dropped another shot with a bogey on the par-4 11th. She reeled off three consecutive birdies on holes 12 through 14, then added back-to-back birdies on 16 and 17 to vault to the top. It was her first made cut at this event, and she has been building momentum ever since.

The 172-centimeter-tall former national team member struggled after making her regular-tour debut in 2024, spending time on the second-tier Dream Tour before returning to the main circuit this season. She has recorded three top-10 finishes this year, including a share of second at the Lotte Open in July.

"I missed three par putts and found myself at 1-over," Park said. "From that point 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. It was a day when I was so completely in the zone that I had no idea how many strokes I was making up."

Yoo Seo-yeon 2 climbed into a share of second after a 4-under round fueled by three consecutive birdies on holes 16 through 18, calmly converting putts of 2.5 meters, 1.5 meters and 5 meters on those closing holes.

Hong Jin-young 2, who had led after each of the first two rounds with 36 bogey-free holes, gave back four strokes Saturday and sits at 3-under 213, tied for fourth with Lee Ji-hyeon 3. She remains just two shots off the lead, keeping a comeback win well within reach.

Seo Gyo-rim, chasing her fifth win of the season, dropped three shots on one birdie and four bogeys to finish at 2-under 214, tied for sixth alongside Bang Sin-sil, Jeon Woo-ri, Seong Eun-jeong and Thailand's Jaravee Boonchant, among others. Money-list leader Kim Min-sol posted an even-par round and sits at 6-over 222, tied for 46th.

Noh Seung-hee poses with the ball from her hole-in-one. [Photo=KLPGA]
Noh Seung-hee poses with the ball from her hole-in-one. [Photo=KLPGA]

Noh Seung-hee made a hole-in-one on the par-3 16th hole with a 7-iron from 171 yards and claimed a Mercedes-Benz sedan worth 80 million won as a prize.

Noh shot 1-under to move into a share of 15th at even-par 216. She said she had once joked that if she ever made a hole-in-one on a hole with a car as the prize, she would give the car to her mother and retire. "I'll have to put retirement off for now," she said, "but I'm happy I can give my mother a nice car."


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