Choi Hye-jin prepares to tee off on the 18th hole. [AFP]
Choi Hye-jin prepares to tee off on the 18th hole. [AFP]

Choi Hye-jin dropped to second place, one stroke off the lead, at the LPGA Tour's The Annika Driven by Gainbridge at Pelican.

Choi carded an even-par 70 on Sunday (Korean Standard Time) at Pelican Golf Club (par 70) in Belleair, Florida, trading four birdies for four bogeys. Her three-round total of 12-under-par 198 left her one stroke behind leader Lindy Duncan of the United States heading into the final round.

Choi dropped three strokes over the first five holes — consecutive bogeys on Nos. 1 and 2, followed by another on the par-4 5th. She rallied with back-to-back birdies on Nos. 6 and 7, then added two more — a chip-in on the par-4 13th and a one-meter conversion on the par-5 14th — to pull into a share of the lead. A bogey on the par-4 18th, however, left her one back.

Choi joined the LPGA Tour in 2022 and has yet to win. She has finished runner-up six times since joining the tour, and nine times overall when counting pre-tour results, including the 2017 US Women's Open. Golfweek, citing Elias Sports Bureau statistics, has reported that nine runner-up finishes without a win is the most on tour since 1981.

Choi has come close to a breakthrough multiple times this year, finishing runner-up at the Dow Championship — where she was paired with Kim Hyo-joo — and then at both the Buick LPGA Shanghai and the BMW Ladies Championship last month.

"I will use the experience of coming so close to winning as an asset," Choi said after the round. "Even if things do not go my way early in the final round, I will stay focused."

Duncan, who also seeks her first LPGA Tour win, moved to the top of the leaderboard with a 1-under-par 69. She had recorded a hole-in-one in the first round.

Yoshida Yuri of Japan, who claimed her first tour win at last month's BMW Ladies Championship, fired a 3-under-par 67 to sit alone in third at 11-under 199. Yoon I-na added a 1-under-par 69 — four birdies against three bogeys — to move into sole fourth at 10-under 200.

Ryu Hae-ran climbed into a share of fifth at 9-under 201 after a bogey-free round of five birdies. World No. 1 Nelly Korda of the United States, however, dropped into a tie for eighth at 7-under 203.


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