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Nice, safe, lovely two-putt par for Buhai and Shubuno on 12. Up on 13, Chun nearly holed in his left-to-right slider for birdie, but remains three out of the lead. Another step closer to Buhai’s breakthrough.
-13: Buhai (12) -10: Chun (13), Shibuno (12)
Chun responds by nearly nailing a one-bounce ace in the cup at 13! She’s out of luck as the ball takes a strong second bounce and rolls 15 feet past the hole, well out of the putt’s range.
Updated at 18.28 BST
Buhai and Shibuno are forced to wait in the middle of the 12th fairway while Chun goes into repair mode above the green. Chun leaves her long putt six feet short, but takes time to gather herself and dives into the putt. It was the second bogey in three holes for the reigning PGA champion, who fell to -10. With the dance floor cleared, Shibuno almost sends his approach into the bunker guarding the front right of the green, but gets a lucky bounce and finds the putting surface. Buhai follows her in a slightly less dramatic style.
-13: Buhai (11) -10: Chun (12), Shibuno (11) -7: Maguire (F), Lee (14), Sagstrom (13)
19-year-old Thai sensation Atthaya Thitikul doesn’t really hang around in the big tournaments. She’s coming off a fourth-place finish at the PGA and a tie for eighth at Evian last month and is certainly a major champion in waiting. She won’t make the cut this year, but she’s on course to make another statement nonetheless, with back-to-back birdies on 15 and 16, the first a long-swept putt, the second a delightful five-iron. She is -6 overall and 2023 is hers for the taking.
Both Buhai and Shibuno came close to 11, but both balls remained stubbornly out. Buhai is one hole closer to home, one hole closer to glory. Meanwhile on 12, Chun, chipping away at a hard par, decided to drive his ball high and well past the flag, looking for backspin to take his ball to the flag. But she doesn’t get the spin she needs and almost sends her ball into the bunkers on the other side of the green. There is enough spin for the ball to catch the fringes and stay up. A long two strokes for bogeys ahead. Harmful enough, but this was very close to a tournament fiasco.
Big mistake by Chun In-gee on 12. She pulls her approach left of the green, her ball drifts down a wave. She’s left with a 40-yard chip over a pot bunker … and with the flag tucked behind, she’s seriously short. Bogey would be a good score from where he is now. Meanwhile, back at 11, both Ashleigh Buhai and Hinako Shibuno are in regulation with middle-range shots to come.
2020 US Open champion Kim Ah-lim drains a monster from the fringe on the back 17 for eagle. She goes up to -5, and if it was even possible, she could trade that hit for buckets of cash to people in the last few groups.
Buhai and Shibuno play the par-4 10th carefully and without much fuss. Both in regulation, they swing long putts to tap-in distance and lined up for money. Expect more of that, as Leona Maguire explains to Sky: “You have to make your score up front, then hang on.”
For the nth time today, Minjee Lee leaves a birdie putt one stroke short. She is two under for her round, but could so easily have been much better. For lack of an inch or two at 4, 7, 9, etc. Meanwhile at 18, a tie for Lydia Ko and the former world number one signs for 68. She will finish in the top ten at -5.
… and so, with the leaders of the order, welcome to the start of the 2022 Women’s Open! Good luck calling that one. Ashleigh Buhai is a solid nine holes away from her first major title, but that back nine is playing hard today and anything can happen. There it is, then!
Leona Maguire parried the latter, who posted a brilliant final round of 66. She won’t win the tournament … not this year, anyway … but it will be her second top-10 finish at a major this season. Don’t rule out the 27-year-old from County Cavan making a breakthrough next year. But for now, she is the new leader of the club. Steph Kyriacou joins her on -7 with a birdie on 11, keeping her hopes alive, but Chun In-gee can’t make a save on par on 10 and so the gap at the top is still two.
-13: Buhai (9)-11: Chun (10)-10: Shibuno (9)-7: Maguire (F), Kiriakou (11), Lee (11)
Chun In-gee is really chipping out of the bunker halfway down the 10-aside. She hits her third into the center of the green and will have a chance to save her par from 20 feet. Ashleigh Buhai can’t make her long par putt but is well behind in kicking distance and limits the damage on bogey. Meanwhile, her playing partner Hideki Shibuno poured in his birdie putt and it was a two-shot exchange between the pair in the final group.
-13: Buhai (9)-12: Chun (9)-10: Shibuno (9)
… but Chun misses her own putt on 10. She whistles her putt into the sand to the right and will almost certainly have to take her medicine by splashing to the side. Meanwhile, back on 9, Buhai finds the heart of the green with his fourth but pulls it a little short and will need to get out from 30 feet if he wants to save his money. Shibuno, meanwhile, is in regulation, with a 15-foot look for birdie.
Chun In-gee makes her way carefully down the par-5 9th, the wind in her face the entire time. She leaves herself a 12-footer for birdie, but there’s a lot of left-to-right spin and she can’t target it. But that gap may close soon. Back down the hole, Ashleigh Buhai clumsily sends her shot into a steep bunker to the right of the fairway and can only advance another 30 yards. She can only lay up her third and must get up and down from 107 yards to save her par.
A disappointing draw on the 17th for Leona Maguire. She would dream of an eagle and post something to give those still on the course pause. She remains at -7. Meanwhile, another big effort slips away for Minji Lee, this time at 10. Her chances are getting slimmer.
-14: Buhai (8) -12: Chun (8) -9: Shibuno (8) -7: Maguire (17), Lee (10)
Shibuno throws a wedge high in the air, landing his ball eight feet past the flag. The best he could do. Buhai almost drained a 30-footer for birdie but was more than happy to get in for par. This increases the tension on Shibuno… but she makes her big move. It’s not perfect, but it could have been a lot worse, and this damage limitation work might help her a bit. Buhai remains at -14, Shibuno falls to -9.
Shibuno had to take his medicine. She comes out of the bunker and will have a long third on the green. From 180 yards, she pulls a long iron into thick rough to the left of the dance floor. Cinderella is not smiling right now. Bouhai turns the knife, driving his second into the center of the green. She will look at a long birdie, but her partner will do well to limit the damage here to bogey.
Chun’s second of 8 rolls down a wave to the left of the green. She could count herself unlucky: a few feet to the right and she would have been close to the flag. Shortsided, she does exceptionally well to hit a delicate chip to four feet, and stacks for par. Back down the hole, Shibuno sends his shot into the face of the fairway bunker on the right and will be lucky to stay with a shot on the green. Meanwhile, Buhai pulls one into the rough on the left.
Minjee Lee parries 9 and turns to 34. There’s nothing wrong with that per se, but it’s not the first time she leaves a drop shot, and at -7 she really needs everything to go down. Pars meanwhile for Buhai and Shibuno on 7. The last pair is steady so far.
Garden variety par for Buhai and Shibuno on 6. Great up and down par save on 7 by Chun. It’s reckoning time as the bottom pair have completed the first third of their final round. This will likely turn into a three-way fight … although Maguire and Lee won’t be throwing in the towel just yet.
-14: Buhai (6)-12: Chun (7)-10: Shibuno (6)-7: Maguire (15), Lee (8)-6: Sagstrom (7), Kyriacou (7)-5: Bouthier ( F), Yamashita (8)
19-year-old American Rose Jahn will lift the low amateur silver medal at the awards ceremony. The only amateur to survive the cut, she ends up with bogeys, but she’s smiling big nonetheless, carding 73 today and ending a hugely impressive week at +1. She already has an ANA Inspiration 11th place on her resume and we’ll be hearing from her again in 2023, no doubt in a professional capacity.
Updated at 17.05 BST
Minjee Lee is not completely out of it yet. Second birdie in three holes, this time on 8, despite dropping an iron off the safety tee and missing the fairway. She is at -7. But a mini-disaster for Steph Kyriakou at the par-three 7th. She misses the green short and right, then fails to get the pot with her chip. A clumsy second effort leaves a great shot long and she can’t make it. Double and in short order she returns the two shots she took at 5 and 6. Shame on the young Aussie.
Eagle for Hinako Shibuno at the par-five 5th! She answers back-to-back three-putts, hitting her second into the heart of the green and rolling in the putt from 15 feet. She was walking after it the second she hit him. Her partner Ashley Buhai looks to be in trouble facing a downhill bunker shot but makes a great splash to four feet and lays up for a nerve-soothing birdie. From the start today she is trying to throw money away so this up and down could be a game changer. Meanwhile, another birdie for Chun In-gee, who made up for a disappointing par on 5 by sinking a monster birdie on 6.
-14: Buhai (5)-12: Chun (6)-10: Shibuno (5)-8: Kiriaku (6)
Stephanie Kyriacou drains another long birdie putt! This one…
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