Kim Min-sun 7 celebrates with her caddie after making a birdie on the third hole. [Photo=KLPGA]
Kim Min-sun 7 celebrates with her caddie after making a birdie on the third hole. [Photo=KLPGA]

Kim Min-sun 7 has taken a one-stroke lead at the Korea Ladies Professional Golf Association Tour's Hana Financial Group Championship, which carries a purse of 1.5 billion won ($1.09 million).

Playing the third round Saturday at The Heaven Country Club (par 72, 6,819 yards) on Daebudo island in Ansan, Gyeonggi Province, Kim carded five birdies against no bogeys to move to 8 under par (208) for the tournament, one stroke ahead of Jang Eun-su in second place.

Kim opened her scoring with a 2.3-meter birdie on the par-4 third hole, then converted a birdie on the par-5 sixth after placing her third shot within three meters of the pin. She added birdies from 3.5 meters on the par-3 12th and from two meters on the 15th, before closing with a 2.7-meter birdie on the par-5 18th.

The tournament has proven exceptionally demanding: the 6,819-yard layout features fairways just 12 meters wide — roughly half the tour average — along with heavy B-cut rough measuring 85 to 100 millimeters, firm greens and stiff sea breezes off the Yellow Sea. The cut line fell at 5 over par, reflecting the extreme difficulty.

World-ranked stars including Lydia Ko of New Zealand and Minjee Lee of Australia missed the cut, yet Kim has posted an under-par score in each of the three rounds through steady, disciplined play. Rather than attacking pins directly in the punishing conditions, she has favored center-of-green targets to keep bogeys off her card.

Kim, who claimed her second tour victory at the Nexen-Saint Nine Masters Tournament last April, reflected on her round after play. "My iron shots were really good today, so I was able to play aggressively," she said. "Trading birdies with the players in my group helped me build a good rhythm."

Jang Eun-su, who won the Jeju Samdasoo Masters last month for her first professional victory in 10 years as a pro, carded three birdies and no bogeys to sit alone in second at 7 under par (137).

Jang is in the middle of a 54-hole streak without a bogey. "Compared to the first and second rounds, today was the most comfortable I've played," she said. "There were plenty of birdie opportunities, and not many holes where I really struggled to save par. I'm genuinely excited to be playing in the final pairing for the first time in a while. I want to go out there with confidence."

Park Min-ji, a 20-time tour winner, fired a 5-under-par 67 to reach 6 under par (138) for the tournament, joining Hwang Yu-min and national team member Yang Yun-seo in a three-way tie for third.

Park made seven birdies against two bogeys for her net five-under round. "Like every player out here, I enter tournaments to win," she said. "I'm excited to be playing the final round near the top of the leaderboard for the first time in a while, and I want to carry that excitement into Sunday."

Yang Yun-seo, who will represent South Korea at the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games opening Sept. 30, birdied four of her final five holes to climb into the tie for third.

"My goal is always gold in both the individual and team events," Yang said. "The Asian Games is a big tournament, but rather than treating it as something special, I plan to prepare the same way I always do and just play my game."

Hwang Yu-min also reached the tie for third with three birdies and no bogeys, positioning herself for a come-from-behind victory. "My ball-striking keeps getting better, so I think if I maintain this momentum the results will follow," she said. "Being near the top heading into the final round, I believe I can play well if I keep trusting myself the way I have been."

Hong Jin-young 2 made a hole-in-one on the par-3 12th hole, a 197-yard shot with a 5-utility club, earning a BMW vehicle worth 76 million won as a prize. She sits alone in sixth place at 3 under par (213) for the tournament.


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