Rianne Malixi of The Philippines reacts after narrowly missing a putt during round three
Kim Min-sol snared two eagles in the final four holes to keep Korea in pole position in the 43rd edition of the Queen Sirikit Cup.
The 16-year-old Kim’s late heroics summed up a day of wildly fluctuating fortunes at the sun-baked Manila Southwoods Golf and Country Club, during which the lead alternated between Korea and India on numerous occasions.
Thanks to Kim’s 73 and a 71 from Yoo Hyun-jo it was Korea who ended the third round on top of the leaderboard as they chase an eighth Asia-Pacific Amateur Ladies Golf Team Championship title in the last nine years.
Heading into Friday’s final round over the Jack Nicklaus-designed Masters Course, Korea have a team aggregate of seven-under 425 in the event in which the two best daily scores in each three-strong team are counted.
Inspired by Avani Prashanth, India remain very much in contention for their maiden Queen Sirikit Cup crown, just two shots off the pace.
Despite dropping shots at 16 and 18, Prashanth carded a two-under 70. With a 12-under total of 204 she holds a five-stroke lead over Rianne Malixi of the Philippines in the individual standings.
Yoo is third on 212 with New Zealand’s Fiona Xu and Chinese Taipei’s Tiffany Huang Ting-hsuan, the reigning Women’s Amateur Asia-Pacific (WAAP) champion, in equal fourth on 213.
Thanks to rounds of 67 from Elaine Widjaja and 70 from Holly Halim, Indonesia had the best daily score of 137 to move into joint third place with defending champions Japan and New Zealand on 433.
They are followed by the Philippines and Hong Kong, China (435), Thailand and China (436), Chinese Taipei (443), Malaysia (445) and Singapore (459).
Korea began the third round with a four-stroke lead from India. But that advantage was wiped out by the turn before India moved ahead as the back nine unfolded.
After Kim ran-up a quadruple-bogey eight at 14, Korea looked set to fall further behind. But Kim, 16th in the World Amateur Golf Ranking (WAGR), then chipped-in for an eagle-three at the 15th. A birdie at the short 17th followed before she ended in a blaze of glory, holing a short putt for another eagle-three on 18.
Meanwhile, Prashanth, who had raced to four-under through 12, then suffered a late stumble.
Playing in the last flight, she had her first bogey of the day at 16. At 18, a sharp dog-leg right, the Indian hooked her drive onto the 16th fairway. With 195 yards remaining, she opted to go for the green with her six-iron, despite an obscured view of the putting surface.
It was gamble that did not pay off, her ball ricocheting off a tree and flying into the lake guarding the right side of the 18th hole. From there she could only manage a six.
“It was my first bad drive of the day and I then should have hit a lay-up,” said Prashanth, who was well supported by Vidhatri Urs who posted an even-par 72. Although her 74 did not count, Nishna Patel’s best round of the week to date will have boosted her confidence.
Despite her late wobble, Prashanth, 97th in the WAGR, vowed to continue to adopt an aggressive approach as India aim to pull of an historic victory at Manila Southwoods.
She said, “I’m more excited than nervous. It would mean a lot to win both the team and individual, but especially the team. It would really help to put India on the golfing map. I will be staying aggressive, but will be trying not to do anything stupid, like I did on 18 today.”
Korean Captain Sang Won-ko had praise for his players. He said: “It was another difficult day, but they did well. Although there are mistakes, they are always fighting back and trying to make birdies.”
So, too, is Malixi, the diminutive 15-year-old from the Philippines who drew the largest cheer of the day when she holed a 20-footer for an eagle-three on 18, enabling her to sign for 68. “My energy was much better today. I’ve got to keep that up in the final round and commit to all my shots,” she added.
Although Chinese Taipei are languishing in 10th place, Huang continued her solid form with a two-under 70. Yet the WAAP champion was left to rue a succession of missed putts. “I’m finding the greens very difficult to read. I was confused on a few birdie putts,” said Huang, 37th in the WAGR.
For China’s Zhang Yahui, 31st in the rankings, the par-four ninth hole once more proved to be her nemesis.
On day two, Zhang twice hit into the water hazard fronting the green, running up a nine. In the third round she was bogey-free until reaching the ninth where she again dumped two balls into the water, eventually holing a four-footer for an eight.
Again, she fought back courageously, birdies at 17 and 18 enabling her to sign for a 74.
Team Scores
425 – Korea (139-142-144)
427 – India (142-143-142)
433 – Indonesia (145-151-137)
433 – Japan (141-147-145)
433 – New Zealand (140-150-143)
435 – Philippines (142-148-145)
435 – Hong Kong, China (141-147-147)
436 – Thailand (140-149-147)
436 – China (145-143-148)
443 – Chinese Taipei (147-150-146)
445 – Malaysia (147-149-149)
459 – Singapore (147-158-154)
Individual Scores
204 – Avani Prashanth (India) 68-66-70
209 – Rianne Malixi (Philippines) 68-73-68
212 – Yoo Hyun-jo (Korea) 70-71-71
213 – Tiffany Huang Ting-hsuan (Chinese Taipei) 71-72-70
213 – Fiona Xu (New Zealand) 68-73-72
215 – Arianna Lau (Hong Kong, China) 72-71-72
216 – Elaine Widjaja (Indonesia) 71-78-67
217 – Kim Min-sol (Korea) 73-71-73
217 – Yuna Araki (Japan) 70-74-73
217 – Achiraya Sriwong (Thailand) 70-73-74
218 – An Tong (China) 73-70-75
219 – Ni Zixin (China) 72-73-74
220 – Vivian Lu (New Zealand) 72-77-71
221 – Thitikarn Thapasit (Thailand) 70-78-73
221 – Seo Kyo-rim (Korea) 69-78-74
221 – Sophie Han (Hong Kong, China) 69-76-76
222 – Holly Halim (Indonesia) 76-76-70
222 – Zhang Yahui (China) 73-75-74
223 – Vidhatri Urs (India) 74-77-72
223 – Mizuki Hashimoto (Japan) 71-80-72
223 – Ng Jing Xuen (Malaysia) 73-75-75
224 – Foong Zi Yu (Malaysia) 76-74-74
225 – Kristina Yoko (Indonesia) 74-75-76
226 – Namo Luangnitikul (Thailand) 74-76-76
226 – Miku Ueta (Japan) 74-73-79
230 – Olivia Hung (Chinese Taipei) 76-78-76
230 – Wang Xin Yao (Malaysia) 74-77-79
230 – Mafy Singson (Philippines) 74-75-81
232 – Nishna Patel (India) 80-78-74
232 – Sophia Chen (Chinese Taipei) 76-78-78
232 – Aloysa Atienza (Singapore) 73-79-80
234 – Lois Kaye Go (Philippines) 77-80-77
235 – Eunseo Choi (New Zealand) 82-80-73
235 – Chen Xing Tong (Singapore) 74-85-76
236 – Jillian Kuk (Singapore) 79-79-78
238 – Charlene Chung Yan-yin (Hong Kong, China) 79-84-75
