Singapore: Thailand's Eila Galitsky grabbed a commanding three-shot lead going into the final round of the Women's Amateur Asia-Pacific (WAAP) championship, raising hopes of following in the footsteps of compatriot Atthaya Thitikul, who won the inaugural tournament, also held in Singapore in 2018.
In yesterday's third round at Singapore Island Country Club, 16-year-old Eila closed with a thrilling birdie from the edge of the water to finish on two-under-par 70.
That gave the world No.193 amateur a three-round total of 10-under-par 206, three ahead of the second-placed Kim Min-Sol of South Korea (73).
World No.14 Kim and Eila were involved in a one-on-one battle in the lead group, until the Korean made an uncharacteristic bogey on the par-5 12th, and then followed it up with a double bogey on the par-4 15th.
A birdie on the 18th brought back the smile on Kim's face.
Eila, who holds dual nationality of Thailand and Canada, hit a 4-iron second shot into the 18th that flirted with the water hazard on the left.
With almost no stance, she managed to putt from the fringe to 10 feet and made the putt that helped her finish double digits under-par.
She had earlier made a monster putt from nearly 35 feet on the 11th hole.
"Of course, I am aware that Atthaya won the championship here in Singapore, but let's not jinx anything," said the Chiang Mai-based player.
Japan's Yuna Araki, the second-highest ranked player in the championship at No.5, showed her class with three birdies in three holes on either half of the golf course, but it was sandwiched between bogeys on the first and 18th holes as she moved to third place after a four-under-par 68 round.
The best round of the day was a six-under-par 66 from South Korea's 16-year-old Seo Kyo-Rim.
Making her debut in WAAP, she was bogey-free with six birdies, including two in the last two holes.
That helped her jump to tied fourth place at five-under 211 total alongside New Zealand's Fiona Xu (71), China's Tong An (72) and Sophie Han (75) of Hong Kong.
Singapore's Aloysa Margiela Atienza turned a disappointing day into an unforgettable one when she made the only hole-in-one of the championship so far. The 24-year-old local star holed her 8-iron shot on the par-3 sixth hole from 149 yards, after making eight bogeys in the 16 holes before that.
Meanwhile, the R&A and Asia-Pacific Golf Confederation (APGC) announced yesterday that the 2024 WAAP championship will be held at Siam Country Club's Waterside Course from Feb 1-4.
The event returns to Siam Country Club in Chon Buri following a successful championship in 2022.