Yoo Hae-ran takes sole lead in the third round of the KLPGA Hite Jinro Championship

(Seoul = Yonhap News) Reporter Lee Young-ho = Yoo Hae-ran jumped to the lead in the third round of the Hite Jinro Championship (total prize money of 1.5 billion won), the last major tournament of the Korea Ladies Professional Golf (KLPGA) Tour season.

Yoo Hae-ran hit 1 over par 73 with 3 birdies and 4 bogeys in the third round of the tournament held at Blue Heron Golf Club (par 72) in Yeoju, Gyeonggi-do on the 3rd.

Yoo Hae-ran, who recorded an intermediate total of 1 under par 215 strokes, was ranked highest on the leaderboard, one stroke ahead of Yoo Seo-yeon (intermediate total of even par 216 strokes), who reduced 5 strokes on this day.

Until the third round, Yoo Hae-ran was the only player to record a score under par.

Yoo Hae-ran, who competed in a domestic tournament two years and two months after the Jeju Samdasoo Masters in August 2024, recorded his fourth overall win at the Nexen/St. Nine Masters in April 2022, which was his last win on the KLPGA Tour.

Yoo Hae-ran, who entered the third round in second place, got his first birdie at the second hole (par 3), but stopped with a bogey at the third hole (par 4).

Yoo Hae-ran made bogeys in succession on the 6th hole (par 4) and 9th hole (par 4), losing 2 strokes in the first half alone.

Yoo Hae-ran, who had been saving par in the second half, continued his poor performance with a bogey on the 15th hole (par 4), but recovered with two consecutive birdies on the 17th and 18th holes to take the sole lead.

Yoo Hae-ran said, "It was a very difficult and difficult day compared to yesterday. There was not a single easy hole, and the course setting was very difficult. It was a difficult course so that I was the only player who scored under par on the scoreboard, so the day felt long."

On the other hand, Kim Min-sol, who was leading in both the first and second rounds, lost 5 strokes in the 3rd round and recorded an intermediate total of 1 over par 217 strokes, falling to a tie for 3rd place with Lee Ye-won and Seo Jin-jin.

Minsol Kim had only 1 birdie and 3 bogeys in the first half, but collapsed in the second half with 1 bogey and 1 double bogey.

Kim Min-sol also said, "The game was not resolved all day today, and I played disappointingly as I faced many difficult situations. Since I am still only 2 strokes behind the leader, I think I will achieve good results if I do my best tomorrow."

In addition, Yoo Seo-yeon, who had been sluggish until the previous day with a 5-over-par 149, started from the 10th hole and made 5 birdies and 1 bogey in the first half, and made 2 birdies and 1 bogey in the second half, reducing 5 strokes and jumping from tied 31st to sole 2nd place.