HONOLULU: Natthakritta Vongtaveelap of Thailand is just two shots off the lead heading into the final round of the Lotte Championship in Hawaii.
The 20-year-old rookie, who only turned professional in November, is chasing her first LPGA Tour victory after coming within a hair of winning the Thailand Open in Pattaya in February.
Natthakritta, who led after the first two rounds, struggled in the wind on Friday and finished with a one-over-par 73, which dropped her to seven under, two off the lead alongside Nasa Hataoka of Japan and Americans Christina Kim and Lauren Hartlage.
Sung Yu-Jin is alone in first place at 9 under, ahead of three players at 8 under including Georgia Hall.
Sung, who is only playing in this week’s tournament after receiving a sponsor’s invitation, posted two birdies, a bogey and 15 pars in a solid but unspectacular round at Hoakalei Country Club outside Honolulu.
Hall, who arrived in Hawaii on the back of two consecutive runner-up finishes in the Los Angeles Open and Drive On Championship, missed a chance to join Sung at the top of the leaderboard after rolling a birdie putt on the 18th green just wide.
The Englishwoman, who had lit up the second round with a dazzling six-under-par 66, settled for a one-under-par 71 that leaves her firmly in the hunt for victory.
Strong winds on Friday made for challenging conditions in the third round with none of the top eight women on the leaderboard managing to duck under 70.
The day’s biggest move came from Bailey Tardy, who bounced back from her disastrous five-over-par 77 on Thursday with a seven-under-par 65 that vaulted her back into contention.
Tardy played flawlessly to make seven birdies and no bogeys and believes her performance in difficult conditions augurs well for the final round.
“I’m pretty confident,” Tardy said. “Just being able to play well in 20 to 30-mile-an-hour winds means I know how to hit golf shots, not just how to hit the perfect shot.”
Tardy finished the third round three off the lead on six under, tied for ninth place alongside France’s Celine Boutier, Taiwan’s Chien Pei-yun, Canada’s Brooke Henderson and Liu Siyun of China.