China’s Yin Ruoning carded six birdies in a four-under-par 67 to take a two-shot lead over Kim Hyo-joo in the Los Angeles Open.
The 20-year-old, who turned pro in 2020 and won her first three China LPGA starts, had a 14-under-par total of 199 at Palos Verdes Golf Club while South Korea’s Kim – who started the day tied for the lead with Yin – posted a 69 for a 12-under-par total of 201.
Kim, whose five LPGA victories include a Major title at the 2014 Evian Championship, pulled away early with three birdies in the first seven holes.
Yin was three down after a bogey at the 8th that put her at even par for the day and from there, she said, “I just told my caddie, man, we’ve got to trust the line and just putt it.”
After she followed a birdie at the 9th with a bogey at the 10th, Yin hit her stride with three straight birdies at 12, 13 and 14 to seize a one-shot lead.
She added one more birdie at the 16th, where her shot into the green left her less than two feet.
Yin said her plan for Sunday was to “just play my game. I know I can make birdie, just be patient, that’s my thoughts.”
While a first LPGA Tour title would mean a lot “not just for me but also China golf,” Yin said she didn’t expect to be nervous once she’d teed off on Sunday.
“After that, just pretty normal,” she said.
Kim couldn’t maintain her early pace, posting a birdie and two bogeys coming in.
“On the front nine, the putter was working really well, but my shots weren’t really on par with my putter, so I was kind of busy with my recovery shots,” she said. “Hopefully the shots tomorrow will be better than today’s.”
Georgia Hall, coming off a runner-up finish to Celine Boutier in a playoff in Arizona last Sunday, had two eagles in a stunning nine-under-par 62 that left her alone in third on 203.
Hall’s seven-under front nine included eagles at the 5th and 7th sandwiched around a birdie at the 6th – with birdies at the 1st and 9th for bookends.
“I think I was even six under after 7, which was crazy,” Hall said. “Just had to kind of forget about the previous holes and really stay focused otherwise I could have just like parred in.”
She picked up two more birdies on the back nine to match her personal best score of nine under.
“Very happy with today,” Hall said. “I don’t normally write down ‘two, two, three’ on the scorecard.”
Her first eagle came at the 5th, a driveable par-four where she chipped in.
After a birdie at the 6th she reached the green at the par-five 7th in two using a driver for the second shot and giving herself a five-foot eagle putt.
South Africa’s Paulo Reto is on four over (T69) after carding 75, while countrywomen Ashleigh Buhai missed the weekend cut.
© Agence France-Presse
