South Korea’s Arim Kim shaved four strokes off her score on the third day of the U.S. Women’s Professional Golf (LPGA) Tour’s Amundi Evian Championship ($6.5 million purse) at Evian Resort Golf Club (Par 71, 6523 yards) in Evian-les-Bains, France.
After carding four strokes on the first day of competition to sit in a three-way tie for sixth place alongside Hae-ran Hae, Ji-hee Ji, and Sooji Kim, the South Korean dropped three strokes on the second day to fall to a tie for 19th place.
In the third round, Kim carded an eagle, three birdies, and a bogey for a 5-under-par 208 total, putting her in a tie for seventh place with Allison Lee (USA).
She remains six strokes behind France’s Celine Boutier (11-under 202), who had the only round in the 60s all three days (66-69-67). Celine Boutier (World No. 15) has three wins on tour this year, including a victory at the LPGA Drive-On Championship.
“I was able to play a little more aggressively today because of the rain, which made the greens softer,” said Kim afterward.
“I wasn’t in great shape,” he said. However, I felt better than I was worried about, so I played with a lot of confidence,” he said, adding, “I think I can look forward to tomorrow’s (performance).”
“From the tee shot to the putt, it was everything I thought it would be, and I’m happy with it,” said Kim, who was especially pleased with her eagle on the final hole. 메이저놀이터
Kim will tee off in the same group as Allison Lee on the final day of competition at 11:55 a.m. local time (6:55 p.m. ET on Sept. 30).
Japan’s Nasa Hataoka (World No. 19), who has six Tour wins, is tied for second place at 8-under, three shots behind the leader.
Meanwhile, defending champion Brooke Henderson (World No. 12) appeared to be cruising to her second straight title with six birdies on the front nine, but a double bogey on the back 12 followed by a bogey on the 14th dropped her three shots in one fell swoop. She then added a birdie at the 15th, but finished the third day four strokes down.
Brooke Henderson is tied for third place with world No. 7 Minjee Lee of Australia, who carded seven birdies and two bogeys for an interim total of 7-under-par 206, a five-stroke improvement.
World No. 2 Nellie Koda (USA) followed in a tie for fifth with Japan’s Yuka Saso at 6-under-par 207.
Kim Hyo-joo (KOR) is tied for 14th with a 3-under total, Ji Ji-hee and Kim Soo-ji (KOR) are tied for 23rd at 1-under, World No. 1 Ko Jin-young (KOR) is tied for 30th at even par, Park Sung-hyun and Hae-ran Hwang (KOR) are tied for 39th at 1-over, Jeon Ji-in and Park Min-ji (KOR) are tied for 53rd at 3-over, and Lee Im-hyang and Choi Hye-jin (KOR) are tied for 57th at 4-over.
The final round of the tournament, a major series, will be broadcast live on JTBC Golf from 6:15 p.m. on Sept. 30. In addition to commentator Han Hee-won, Choi Na-yeon, who retired last year, will serve as a guest commentator.