Lilia Vu, Andrea Lee and Ayaka Furue are tied atop the leaderboard after third-round action Saturday at the AmazingCre Portland Classic in Portland, Ore.
The trio sits at 13-under-par 203 and are being stalked by another four golfers one-shot back at 12 under at the Columbia Edgewater Country Club.
Vu, the co-leader after 36 holes, fired a 69 while Lee and Furue of Japan carded matching 67s.
Hannah Green (68), Hinako Shibuno (66), Daniela Darquea (68) and Paula Reto (67) are tied for second place. Second round co-leader Esther Henseleit (71) and Ryann O’Toole (67) are just two shots back at 11 under in a tie for eighth.
Lee and Furue played their way into a tie for first on moving day.
Lee nearly posted a clean round but bogeyed No. 15 to go with six birdies. Meanwhile, Furue did record a bogey-free round, finishing with five birdies.
“It’s very important to play bogey-free golf,” Furue said. “I believe it’s more important than getting birdies, not having bogeys. So I’m very happy with that today.”
Lee got off to a fast start, opening with a birdie to finish with three on the front nine.
“I think this week so far I’ve been playing the front nine pretty well. Just birdieing one of the par 5s each day and just getting pars and making the putts that I can,” Lee said. “A lot of the girls are just dropping bombs and making so many birdies out there. I think the par 5s, you definitely need to take advantage of those to go low.”
Vu, on the other hand, opened with a bogey and carded two on the front nine. But she rebounded with four birdies, coming in to finish with five total.
“This course demands a lot off the tee, and I just wasn’t feeling good,” Vu said. “My back has been hurting. I’m actually going to go see the physio after this. Just trying to stay patient with my back and then also not get too frantic when I’m not hitting fairways.”
Carlota Ciganda (71), Caroline Inglis (69), Frida Kinhult (65) and Maja Stark (70) are also within striking distance of the lead in a tie for 10th, three shots back. Kinhult vaulted 29 spots up the leaderboard with the low round of the day.
–Field Level Media