Norton, Massachusetts – Miranda Wang left TPC Boston with a three-shot lead for the second day in a row. This time he had to overcome the three-shot deficit with a gorgeous putt that led to a 7-under 65 in the FM Championship.
The King only took 24 putts on the flexible course of the rain, but could have been helped by having to play only 18 holes. Some of the Chinese player challengers faced much longer days due to the storm, which had interrupted many plays the day before.
She drilled an 8-foot birdie putt on the 18th hole to give Sei Young Kim (71) and Rose Chan (67) a three-shot lead.
The king was 198 under 198.
“This is where every player wants, so getting into the final round, the only leader, is definitely special,” Wang said. “This is what we’re trying to do every week, so I’m happy we did our job really well. I want to continue doing what we did today.”
Kim made a big scoring run when he played 14 holes on the nine holes on Saturday morning and completed his second round with 65 to build a three-shot lead. The afternoon wasn’t that smooth and her lead was gone on three holes.
She couldn’t get out of the bunker on the par-5 second hole, leading to a bogey, which felt much worse. She then failed to reach up and down on a third of the par-3.
The king moved forward for the first time with a birdie in the sixth, and she showed the next hole what day it would be. She incited her approach, moving away from the tree from the right on a par 5. She pulled her third shot about 60 feet long and made it for a birdie.
The King also made a 40-foot birdie putt on hole 14, finishing the day with a 27-straight winning streak of holes without bogeys.
The key to the former Duke this week was her back nine on Thursday. The King had eight birdies (along with bogeys) for the 29 on the front nine. This shows that she felt comfortable on the green.
“I really had a hotback 9 in the first round so the putting was clicking. I was getting speed and line very well, so today I made a very long putt on No. 7. “I know I’m doing well with these greens, so it’s time to put more confidence and comfort.”
Chan, who won his first professional LPGA event two years ago, did not have a top 10 against the full field all year round as he tried to split his time between his play and finish at Stanford.
“It’s been a while since I fought, so I’m very grateful,” Zhang said.
She had to play 32 holes – 14 mornings with a 64, and she had four birdies with 5 holes stretches around the afternoon turn.
“What I’m doing today is feeling like I’m eating and drinking water and electrolytes,” Zhang said. “It’s been a while since I played 32 holes. I had to crush a bit. I had to concentrate. But today, I felt like I did a lot of positive things, knowing I’m playing consistent golf and have the resilience to try and improve it.”
Jeeno Thitikul (65) and Andrea Lee (66) were four shots behind.
It’s probably going to have to wait for Nelly Korda to search for his first LPGA victory of the year. When she left the course on a Friday night, she was in range, but managed 70am and 70pm. Korda failed to birdie on one of the four par-5s.
She was nine shots.
LPGA rookie Wang is about to extend his amazing winning streak on this year’s LPGA Tour. There were 22 tournaments, all of which were won by different players.