KUALA LUMPUR: It was moving day at the Sime Darby LPGA Malaysia but the local challenge remained struggling on the wrong side of the leaderboard on Saturday.
Despite recovering from a double-bogey six on the 17th, LPGA regular Kelly Tan, who started on the tenth tee, fell victim to a costly blip towards the end to settle for her second consecutive three-over 74.
She remains as the top-ranked Malaysian in the field in joint 58th with a three-day haul of five-over 218 at Kuala Lumpur Golf & Country Club.
The country’s top performer of the day was Ainil Johani Abu Bakar, who broke her miserable run of scores with an improved two-over 73.
The 25-year-old however remained just one of the bottom with a 21-over 234 overall with the trio of Michelle Koh (77), Nur Durriyah Damian (83) and Cindy Lee-Pridgen (79) just ahead of her.
AT THE FRONT, Jessica Korda sizzled in the blistering heat to snatch a two-shot lead going into the final round on Sunday.
The lanky American fired a flawless six-under 65 to lead compatriot Stacy Lewis, who matched her effort and overnight leader Ha Na Jang (71) of South Korea with a 12-under 201 total.
A three-under 68 kept world number two Lydia Ko of New Zealand within three shots off the lead, in a share for fourth alongside the Chinese pair of Feng Shanshan (69) and Xi Yu Lin (71).
Korda, whose only top-10 finish of the season came in the season-opening Coates Golf Championship in January, barely made it into the tournament on the back of her 56th placing on the money list.
“It’s been such a long time and I’m so happy. I’m very pleased to be back on top of the leaderboard. I definitely wasn’t expecting all my hard work to be paying off this quickly, first week out in the Asia swing, but I’ll take it wherever I can,” said the 22-year-old.
Leading third round scores >
201 – Jessica Korda (USA) 69-67-65
203 – Stacy Lewis (USA) 72-66-65, Ha Na Jang (KOR) 67-65-71
204 – Lydia Ko (NZL) 71-65-68, Xi Yu Lin (CHN) 65-68-71
205 – IK Kim (KOR) 68-68-69, Mika Miyazato (JPN) 68-69-68, Amy Yang (KOR) 67-68-70, Yani Tseng (TPE) 66-68-71, Park Inbee (KOR) 68-66-71
206 – Ryann O’Toole (USA) 72-66-68, Haru Nomura (JPN) 71-65-70
Selected Malaysians >
218 – Kelly Tan 70-74-74
229 – Michelle Koh 77-75-77
233 – Nur Durriyah Damian 79-71-83, Cindy Lee-Pridgen 74-80-79
234 – Ainil Johani Abu Bakar 80-81-73
