Christchurch, New Zealand: Regional golfing heavyweights Korea and Australia are poised for a thrilling final-day showdown in the 44th Queen Sirikit Cup.
Going into the concluding round at Clearwater Golf Club on Saturday, the two powerhouses are locked together at the top of the leaderboard on two-over 434.
Between them, Korea (22) and Australia (nine) have won 31 of the previous editions of the Amateur Ladies Asia-Pacific Invitational Golf Team Championship that was launched in 1979.
After 54 holes here, they hold a four-stroke lead from Japan with hosts New Zealand a further shot back in fourth, still in contention for their first Queen Sirikit Cup success since 1999, when the event was last staged here.
On day three at Clearwater Golf Club, the Korean duo of Oh Soo-min and Lee Hyo-song lived up to their billing as the two highest-rated players in the field.
Oh, 23rd in the World Amateur Golf Ranking (WAGR), returned a three-under-par 69 and Lee (33rd) contributed a 72.
With the best two daily scores in each three-strong team counting, Korea’s 141 day-three aggregate enabled them to wipe out the three-stroke advantage Australia held at the half-way stage.
For the Australians, whose last Queen Sirikit Cup win came in 2013, Justice Bosio and Caitlin Peirce both carded 72s in gusty conditions.
Sarah Hammett, the third member of the Australian team, signed for a 76 which was discounted.
However, thanks to her second-day 67, Hammett leads the individual standings on one-over 217. That is one shot in front of Oh and two ahead of Lee and New Zealander Vivian Lee, who are joint third on 219.
Lee carded a bogey-free 69, but the distinction for the best round of the day went to Malaysian Jing Xeng Ng, whose 68 was the first time she’d broken 80 in the tournament.
But it was a tough day for Chinese Taipei’s Wu Chun-wei. The winner of last month’s Women’s Amateur Asia-Pacific and the joint first round leader here, Wu struggled to a birdie-less 84 that contained two double-bogeys and a triple-bogey seven at the 18th.
Oh, who finished third in the Hana Financial Group Singapore Women’s Open a fortnight ago, said: “I played calmly, focused on one shot at a time, and stayed in the present moment.
“It would be cool if we won as a team. It’s a team event, so if we were to win, we’d be pretty hyped that we were able to do it together.
“Even if I don’t play well, I know my team-mates will help me out. It helps me stay relaxed out there.”
For her part, Hammett is also remaining in positive mood. She said: “I feel like my game is still in good shape – I played well on the front nine and then it fell apart on the back nine a little bit. But I’m still feeling confident heading into tomorrow.
“Hopefully we can continue to combine well and go well. It’d be really cool, especially if it was that long ago we won. Bringing the trophy home for Australia would be amazing.”
TEAM SCORES
434 - Korea (150-143-141); Australia (151-139-144)
438 – Japan (151-144-143)
439 – New Zealand (150-147-142)
445 – Chinese Taipei (147-149-149)
446 – Hong Kong China (158-147-141)
448 – Thailand (154-143-151)
452 – India (152-153-147)
453 – Singapore (156-148-149); Indonesia (156-145-152)
476 – Malaysia (163-163-150)
480 – Philippines (173-149-158)
FULL INDIVIDUAL SCORES
217 – Sarah Hammett (Australia) 74-67-76
218 – Oh Soo-min (Korea) 76-73-69
219 – Vivian Lu (New Zealand) 76-74-69; Lee Hyo-song (Korea) 76-71-72
220 – Sophie Han (Hong Kong, China) 77-74-69; Eunseo Choi (New Zealand) 74-73-73
221 – Justice Bosio (Australia) 77-72-72; Aina Fujimoto (Japan) 73-76-72
222 – Kim Shi-hyun (Korea) 74-72-76
223 – Liao Hsin-chun (Chinese Taipei) 75-76-72; Aloysa Atienza (Singapore) 76-74-73
224 – Mamika Shinchi (Japan) 80-73-71; Elaine Widjaja (Indonesia) 79-72-73; Zara Anand (India) 73-77-74; Hsieh Ping-hua (Chinese Taipei) 74-73-77
225 – Caitlin Peirce (Australia) 78-75-72
226 – Arianna Lau (Hong Kong, China) 81-73-72; Amy Im (New Zealand) 77-74-75
227 – Achiraya Sriwong (Thailand) 81-71-75; Namo Luangnitikul (Thailand) 79-72-76
229 – Jing Xuen Ng (Malaysia) 81-80-68; Vidhatri Urs (India) 79-77-73
231 – Jaymie Ng (Singapore) 80-74-77; Saori Iijima (Japan) 78-71-82; Pimpisa Rubrong (Thailand) 75-73-83
233 – Kristina Natalia Yoko (Indonesia) 79-73-81
235 – Heena Kang (India) 85-76-74; Sania Talita Wahyudi (Indonesia) 77-79-79
236 – Hailey Loh (Singapore) 80-80-76; 159 – Reese Allyson Ng (Philippines) 87-72-77
237 – Angel Yin Jia-yi (Hong Kong, China) 81-81-75; Wu Chun-wei (Chinese Taipei) 73-80-84
244 – Alethea Paige Gaccion (Philippines) 86-77-81
246 – Grace Pauline Quintanilla (Philippines) 87-78-81
247 – Sohniya Chandra Mohan (Malaysia) 82-83-82
252 – Hee Jie Pang (Malaysia) 86-83-83
