INCHEON: Thailand's Pornanong Phatlum is in strong contention for her first LPGA title heading into the final round of the HanaBank Championship in South Korea after narrowly missing out on victory a week ago.
Pornanong Phatlum tees off at the second hole during the third round of the LPGA KEB-HanaBank Championship at the Sky72 Golf Club in Incheon, South Korea on Saturday. (AFP Photo)
Pornanong shot a 69 on Saturday to move to 4 under par, one stroke behind co-leaders Baek Kyu-jung and Bae Hee-kyung of South Korea. However, she has lots of company with nine other players tied at 4 under, including world No. 2 Inbee Park.
Park could overtake American Stacy Lewis at No. 1 if she wins the tournament. Lewis is not playing this week.
Pornanong finished three strokes behind China's Feng Shanshan at the Sime Darby LPGA Malaysia 2014 tournament in Kuala Lumpur last Sunday.
The 24-year-old fifth-year pro from Chaiyaphum held a three-stroke lead going into the final round but could manage only a one-under-par 70, sealing her fate with a double bogey on the par-three 15th hole. Feng, meanwhile, had four birdies and an eagle through the final eight holes en route to an 8-under 63.
Last week's strong finish in Malaysia moved Pornanong up to 26th from 32nd in the Rolex World Rankings and to 18th from 27th on the LPGA money list with earnings of $657,322 so far this season, surpassing the $600,000 she earned all last year.
Pornanong has eight career professional victories on the Ladies Asian Golf Tour and Ladies European Tour, the most notable being the Dubai Ladies Masters last season. She won the HSBC LPGA Brasil Cup, an unofficial LPGA Tour event, in 2012.
She has six top-10 finishes on the LPGA Tour so far this year.