Stephanie Meadow moved to within four shots of the lead at the LPGA’s Lotte Championship after a 69 on day three of the tournament at Hoakalei Country Club in Ewa Beach, Hawaii.
The Northern Irishwoman’s round carded four birdies and one bogey, including two birdies on the last three holes.
Hyo Joo Kim endured an up-and-down third round on Friday but still maintained her three-shot lead at 10-under, ahead of Brianna Do and Japan’s Hinako Shibuno at 7 under. Do carded a five-under 67 on Friday, matching the best score of the day, while Shibuno posted a four-under 68.
South Korea’s Somi Lee is level with Meadow to share fourth place at six under.
The United States’ Megan Khang (67 on Friday) and Thailand’s Ariya Jutanugarn (73) sit at five under, tied for sixth. China’s Ruixin Liu (67), South Africa’s Ashleigh Buhai (70) and South Koreans Hye-Jin Choi (72) and Na Rin An (73) share eighth place at four under.
Kim had 11 pars and two bogeys among her first 13 holes on Friday, but birdies on the par-4 14th hole and the par-5 18th allowed her to pull back to par for the round.
She said of the closing birdie, “It was very important because it was a matter of over par or not. I had a chance at the 16th hole but I missed, so I was a little angry. Now I feel much better since I made a birdie on the last hole.”
The three-time LPGA winner said looking ahead to the final round, “I think it will be windy (Saturday), too. I think I’ll keep trying to put more on the green. I was sad that I missed a lot of birdie putts (Friday). I hope to make a lot of chances (Saturday).”
Leona Maguire is tied 68th after a 76 on Friday.
Collated scores (USA unless stated, Par 72):
206 Hyo-Joo Kim (Kor) 67 67 72
209 Brianna Do 72 70 67, Hinako Shibuno (Jpn) 71 70 68
210 Som-Mi Lee (Kor) 71 70 69, Stephanie Meadow (NIrl) 71 70 69
211 Ariya Jutanugarn (Tha) 70 68 73, Megan Khang 72 72 67
212 Ashleigh Buhai (Rsa) 71 71 70, Ruixin Liu (Chn) 71 74 67, Nam-Rin Ant (Kor) 71 68 73, Hye-Jin Choi (Kor) 70 70 72
213 Ind-Gee Chun (Kor) 72 70 71, Ryann O'Toole 72 69 72, Dewi Weber (Ned) 70 74 69
214 Chella Choi (Kor) 70 73 71, Pernilla Lindberg (Swe) 71 72 71, Emily Kristine Pedersen (Den) 74 69 71, Allisen Corpuz 70 72 72, Gemma Dryburgh (Sco) 67 73 74, Andrea Lee 71 70 73
215 Celine Boutier (Fra) 71 74 70, A-Lim Kim (Kor) 72 67 76, Sarah Kemp (Aus) 68 69 78, Sophia Schubert 75 71 69, Gerina Piller 74 72 69, Annie Park 73 73 69, Kelly Tan (Mal) 71 72 72, Stephanie Kyriacou (Aus) 71 71 73
216 Anna Nordqvist (Swe) 70 77 69, Perrine Delacour (Fra) 71 72 73, Aditi Ashok (Ind) 67 73 7, Hae-Ji Kang (Kor) 68 70 78
217 Lydia Ko (Nzl) 69 75 73, Jennifer Kupcho 74 72 71, Hannah Green (Aus) 66 76 75, Gaby Lopez (Mex) 68 77 72, Esther Henseleit (Ger) 75 70 72, Lauren Stephenson 75 72 70, Wichanee Meechai (Tha) 74 72 71, Emma Talley 75 71 71, Min Lee (Tai) 69 73 75, Lindsey Weaver-Wright 71 74 72, Albane Valenzuela (Swi) 70 75 72, Charlotte Thomas (Eng) 72 75 70, Atthaya Thitikul (Tha) 71 74 72, Janie Jackson 68 72 77
218 Alison Lee 67 76 75, Cheyenne Knight 70 71 77, Maria Fassi (Mex) 70 76 72, Dana Finkelstein 72 71 75, Dottie Ardina (Phi) 72 75 71
219 Brittany Altomare 70 77 72, Jeong-Eun Lee (Kor) 71 71 77, Giulia Molinaro (Ita) 74 73 72, Ana Belac (Slo) 75 71 73
220 Yuka Saso (Jpn) 73 74 73, Yu Liu (Chn) 74 72 74, Jodi Ewart (Eng) 67 77 76, Linnea Johansson (Swe) 70 77 73, Isabell Gabsa (Ger) 71 72 77
221 Matilda Castren (Fin) 74 72 75, Georgia Hall (Eng) 70 75 76, Yealimi Noh 77 70 74, Amy Olson 76 71 74, Lilia Vut 73 73 75, Frida Kinhult (Swe) 74 72 75, Mi-Hyang Lee (Kor) 72 73 76
222 Harukyo Nomura (Jpn) 74 73 75, Leona Maguire (Irl) 71 75 76, Jennifer Coleman 72 75 75, Ayaka Furue (Jpn) 71 73 78, Ssu-Chia Cheng (Tai) 71 75 76, Anne van Dam (Ned) 71 76 75
224 Su-Hyun Oh (Aus) 74 73 77
225 Bianca Pagdanganan (Phi) 70 77 78, Yu-Sang Hou (Tai) 71 76 78
227 Paula Reto (Rsa) 71 73 83
