Yang Digs Deep to Retain Pole Position

Wellington, New Zealand: Yang Yun-seo survived a roller-coaster round to remain in pole position to end Korea’s Women’s Amateur Asia-Pacific (WAAP) victory drought. 

The teenager went through the fall gamut of emotions en route to an even-par 72 in round three at Royal Wellington. Three-over through seven holes, the 18-year-old produced a gutsy comeback, covering the final 11 holes in three-under to retain her place atop the leaderboard for the third day in succession. 

Heading into Sunday’s final round, Yang leads the way on 13-under-par 203 – two strokes ahead of compatriots Kim Gyu-been and Oh Soo-min.

Kim, who led for much of the day and saw birdies attempts lip out at 14 and 15, four-putted the final green for a double-bogey seven and a round of 71.

Oh, runner-up last year, compiled a five-under 67 which included the shot of the tournament, a majestic seven-wood from 218 yards at the par-five 10th that stopped inches short of dropping into the cup for an albatross-two.

Despite a frustrating day when the golfing Gods appeared determined to derail her chances, Rianne Malixi of the Philippines is still very much in contention. Birdie-less for the first 13 holes, the 2024 US Women’s Amateur champion carded a 73 to leave her in fourth place on nine-under 207.

Korean Park Seo-jin snared eight birdies in a best-of-the-day 66 to climb upto fifth place on 208 with Hong Kong, China’s Arianna Lau a further shot back in sixth.

With stiff south-westerly breezes placing a premium on ball control, it proved to be a fascinating day of twists and turns with only six of the 50 players who survived the half-way cut managing to break 70.

Although Yang, 44th in the World Amateur Golf Ranking® (WAGR)®, was not among them, she’s well placed to become the first Korean winner of the region’s pre-eminent women’s amateur championship.

To date there have been numerous near-misses in the WAAP for Korea with Kim Min-sol (2023), Lee Hyo-song (2024) and Oh last year all having had to settle for second place. 

Yang’s prospects did not look too clever after seven holes in round three, having missed short par putts at the first and sixth and run-up a double-bogey six at the seventh where her drive finished against the base of a tree. She had to play out backwards and then found a greenside bunker with her third from where she failed to get up-and-down.

Her fortunes – and body language – improved at the short eighth where she holed a lengthy birdie putt. She picked up further shots at 10, 14 and 16 to regain top spot. Not even a clumsy bogey-six on the home hole could take the gloss off her comeback.

Yang, who also salvaged an improbable par at the long fourth where she holed a 30-footer having hit her second shot into the water hazard, said: “I got impatient after missing a short putt on the sixth hole and my tee shot on the seventh didn’t go my way, either. I became too greedy and ended up posting a big number. At the beginning of the back nine, I kept telling myself: ‘It’s not over. I can still make up for it’. That helped me finish on a positive note.

“There’s one more day left. If I approach it with the mindset of starting fresh, I think a good result will follow.”

In contrast to Yang, Kim began brightly, easing to three-under through 10 to assume the lead. From there, bogeys at 11 and 13 were offset by birdies at 12 and 16 before her putter betrayed her on the 18th. Her birdie effort from 35 feet raced five feet past the cup from where she required three more attempts. Trudging off the putting surface, she looked understandably shell-shocked.

Like Yang and Kim, her playing partners in the final flight, Malixi also had a double-bogey on her card. Losing her footing as she struck her tee-shot at the par-five second, her ball disappeared straight left into the country and she had to reload, resulting in a seven. Her equilibrium was further tested following a bogey at the fifth where her wedge approach struck the pin and bounced off the green.

She said: “I hit a lot of really good iron shots, but the putts weren’t dropping. It was really frustrating and I just tried my best to be patient. I just want to play some good golf tomorrow. I deserve some putts at least. I made zero putts today, so I wish tomorrow that changes.”

Jeneath Wong’s hopes of a successful title defence may have evaporated, but the Malaysian had the distinction of posting the only bogey-free round of the day, a typically whole-hearted performance during which she hit 17 greens in regulation, making 16 pars and birdies at the first and 10th. She enters the final day in joint 17th place.

In what is shaping into an intriguing race to finish as the leading New Zealander, Darae Chung and Teresa Wang both carded 71s and are in a share of 22nd place on one-over 217. That is two in front of Vivian Lu, three ahead of Eunseo Choi and 13-year-old Elise Barber, the youngest player in the field, and four clear of Caitlin Maurice.

All the players have praised the galleries that have made their way to Royal Wellington. Lu said: “It’s so good to see people out here watching golf. I was walking down one of the holes with Caitlin and I was like: ‘Wow, I'm surprised this many people are out here’. It's really cool that there are a lot of people watching women's golf.”

The WAAP was developed by The R&A and the Asia-Pacific Golf Confederation to nurture talent and provide a pathway for the region’s elite women amateurs to the international stage and the rewards on offer are significant. The champion will earn exemptions into three major championships in 2026, the AIG Women’s Open at Royal Lytham & St Annes, The Amundi Evian Championship in France and the Chevron Championship in the United States.