(Reuters) – China’s Lin Xiyu carded a superb round of five-under-par 67 on Saturday to take a one-shot lead over Australia’s Hannah Green and South Korea’s Inbee Park heading into the final day of the HSBC Women’s World Championship in Singapore.
Lin got off to a poor start with a bogey on the first hole and faltered again on the seventh, but seven birdies – including three in the last four holes – took her total to 14-under for the tournament at the Sentosa Golf Club.
Former world number one Park, the overnight joint-leader, dropped one spot to be tied for second following a disappointing effort after the turn where the 2015 and 2017 champion had two bogeys before a double-bogey on the 16th for a round of 70.
She was alongside the steady Green, whose second consecutive round of 66 kept her in contention for only a third victory on the LPGA Tour.
The leading trio were followed by Mexico’s Gaby Lopez in fourth and a group of three players sharing fifth place – Chun In-gee, Lydia Ko and Ryu So-yeon.
South Korea’s Park Hee-young, who shared top spot heading into the third round, slipped to tied-21st after her game went off the rails on the back nine for a round of 79.
ANA Inspiration winner Patty Tavatanakit of Thailand was tied 11th with British Open champion Sophia Popov after a round of 68.
(Reporting by Shrivathsa Sridhar in Bengaluru; editing by Richard Pullin)
