June 21, 2025; Frisco, Texas, USA; Lee Mi-hyang prepares her tee shot on the 6th hole in the third round of the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship. Mandatory Credit: Raymond Carlin III – Imagn Images South Korea’s Lee Mi-hyang added three strokes to lead the Blue Bay LPGA on Saturday in Hainan Island, China.
She recorded seven birdies and six bogeys at Jian Lake Blue Bay Golf Course for a 1-under par 71.
The 32-year-old entered Sunday’s final round at 12 under par seeking her third LPGA Tour victory and first since 2017.
Lee Seung-yeop was followed at 9 under par by Choi Hye-jin (68 strokes on Saturday) and China’s Liu Yu (73 strokes).
Defending champion Rio Takeda (67) (Japan), India’s Aditi Ashok (70), and Korea’s A-lim Kim (71) tied for fourth place with 8 under par.
Seung-yeop Lee had 4 birdies and 4 bogeys in the 9th hole in the first half, paring only 1 hole. After consecutive bogeys on holes 13 and 14, he made birdies on the 12th and 15th holes, and finished with a birdie on the par-5 18th hole.
Lee Seung-yeop, who has been suffering from shoulder pain this week, said, “There were a lot of ups and downs, but I still finished under par, so I’m really looking forward to tomorrow.”
“I couldn’t sleep last night without my medication, so I hope I can get through one more day tomorrow,” she said.
Choi Gyeong-ju birdied 5 of the first 8 holes in the third round, then gave up one with a bogey at the par-4 17th hole.
Choi said, “I had a really good start to the round, the shots were really good, there were a lot of birdie opportunities, and I made a lot of long putts.” “The back nine wasn’t as good as the front nine, but we made a lot of good saves.”
Choi said the windy conditions affected his shots on the back nine.
Liu also appeared to struggle with the situation as he tried to become only the second Chinese player to win the event since it began in 2014. She hit birds on the 8th and 18th holes and had an eagle on the par 14 12th, but also had three bogeys and a double bogey on the par 4 10th.
China’s Weiwei Zhang (72) and Auston Kim (74) tied for 7th place with 7 under par. Lucy Lee (67) and China’s Heo Munni (70) ranked in the top 10 with 6 under par.
China’s Yuai Ji rose 39 places to tied for 16th at 3 under par with her lowest round of the day, 6 under par 66. I filled my scorecard with 8 birdies and 1 double bogey at the par 4 13th hole.
–Field level media
