Park In-bi '5-shot lead'... "Booking first win of 2021 season~"

Kia Classic Day 3: Heo Mi-jeong Ties for 2nd with 3-Under, Late Chase; Ko Jin-young Ties for 5th

Park In-bee is looking at the hole on the 1st hole of the third day of the Kia Classic. Carlsbad, California, USA = Getty Images / Multibits

[Asia Economy Kim Hyun-jun, Golf Specialist Reporter] ‘5-stroke lead’.

‘Golf Queen’ Park In-bee (33, KB Financial Group) has secured her first win of the 2021 season. On the 28th (Korean time), at the Aviara Golf Club in Carlsbad, California, USA (par 72, 6,609 yards), during the third day of the LPGA Tour Kia Classic (total prize money $1.8 million), she posted a 3-under-par round, maintaining her position at the top of the leaderboard for the third consecutive day (12-under-par 204 strokes). Heo Mi-jeong (32), Minjee Lee (Australia), and Mel Reid (England) are chasing in a tie for second place (7-under-par 209 strokes).

Park In-bee recorded 4 birdies and 1 bogey. She started strong with ‘stepping stone birdies’ on holes 5 and 7, and recovered from a bogey on the 11th hole (par 3) with a birdie on the 13th hole (par 4). Her green hit rate of 83.33% and ‘pinpoint iron shots’ showed great power. She added a birdie on the 17th hole (par 5). It is interesting that she is making a winning run immediately after her first start this year. She reached her 20th career win at the Australian Open in February last year and is on track to reach her 21st win after 1 year and 1 month.

Moreover, she has been frustrated by finishing as runner-up three times in this tournament?in 2010, 2016, and 2019. For Park In-bee, the motivation of securing a ‘Tokyo Olympic ticket’ has been added. She is challenging for a ‘back-to-back’ gold medal following her gold at the Rio Olympics in Brazil in August 2016. Currently ranked 4th in the world, she is third among Korean players after Ko Jin-young (26), who is 1st, and Kim Sei-young (28, Mediheal), who is 2nd. As of June, Korea can send up to four players ranked within the ‘top 15’.

Heo Mi-jeong surged with a 5-under-par round to launch a late chase. Ko Jin-young is tied for 5th place (6-under-par 210 strokes) along with Lexi Thompson (USA) and Madelene Saxstr?m (Sweden). Kim Hyo-joo (25, Lotte) started strong with a 5-under-par round on the first day in 2nd place but stagnated with even-par rounds in the 2nd and 3rd rounds, dropping to a tie for 8th place (5-under-par 211 strokes). Shin Ji-eun (29) is tied for 15th place (3-under-par 213 strokes), and Yang Hee-young (32) follows in a tie for 28th place (1-under-par 215 strokes).

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.