Americans Angel Yin and Allisen Corpuz, each chasing their first LPGA Tour title, fired five-under-par 67s to share the lead after Saturday’s third round of the Chevron Championship.
In the year’s first women’s golf Major, Yin and Corpuz stood on 10-under 206 after 54 holes on the Jack Nicklaus Signature course at The Woodlands near Houston, Texas.
“I feel really good this week,” Yin said. “I’ve been feeling really good and calm this entire year leading up. I’m just happy to see myself playing well.”
Yin birdied three of the last four holes to charge into a tie at the top with Corpuz, who birdied four of the first five holes in a bogey-free round.
“I’ve been playing really solid these past three days,” Corpuz said. “Really just fairways and greens, give myself good looks at birdie and managed to convert a few of them.”
South Korea’s Amy Yang, American Megan Khang and Switzerland’s Albane Valenzuela shared third on nine-under 207 with a pack on eight-under 208 including American Nelly Korda and South Koreans Kim A-lim, Choi Hye-jin and Kim Hyo-joo.
South African Ashleigh Buhai is on six-under 210 after a third-round 66 that included seven birdies and a bogey, while countrywomen Paulo Reto missed the cut.
Yin, in only her third start of the year, hasn’t managed a top-10 LPGA Tour finish since sharing third in last May’s Founders Cup.
But the 24-year-old was the 2019 US Women’s Open runner-up and captured a Ladies European Tour victory at Dubai in 2017.
“I feel really good actually,” she said. “A lot of everything that has been happening the past few years has been leading up to this.”
Yin opened with a birdie, answered her lone bogey at the 3rd with a birdie at the 4th and birdied 11, then got a stunning break when her tee shot at 12 bounced out of water and onto a bank, allowing her to escape with par before her birdie binge at 15, 16 and the par-five 18th.
“Extremely shocked. How rare is that, right?” Yin said of her luck at 12. “My caddie said let’s see you hole this chip and it didn’t go in but it touched the lip. That was TV worthy.”
Corpuz (25) is in her second LPGA Tour season. Her best finish was a runner-up spot last August in Japan.
Corpuz said she has felt comfortable this week and knows Yin well for their final-pairing Sunday matchup.
“I’ve just been trying to tell myself, ‘Get more comfortable in contention. Just keep learning from every experience,'” she said. “Had a few close calls beginning of this year and end of last year so really just trying to keep everything the same.”
Khang birdied the 2nd hole and grabbed the lead with birdies at the par-three 7th and par-five 8th holes before stumbling back to nine under with a bogey to start the back nine.
Khang responded with a 10-foot birdie putt at 11 to reclaim the lead but bogeys at 13 and 14 and a birdie at the par-three 17th left her one adrift.
