Miami
Kim Sei-young used a late birdie run to shoot a sizzling 64 and open up a five-stroke lead over Ally McDonald at the LPGA Tour’s Pelican Women’s Championship on Saturday.
South Korea’s Kim caught fire on the back nine, making birdie on four straight holes from the 14th through the 17th to reach 14-under 196 at the Pelican Golf Club in Florida.
American McDonald had a roller-coaster round of 68 that included a hole-in-one on the par three 12th and a double bogey on No. 8 to get to nine-under for the tournament.
“She made a hole-in-one. I got a little bit pressure, but I just tried to focus on my game,” said Kim, who responded with her birdie binge.
Second ranked Kim and McDonald are both breakthrough winners in their last starts.
Kim is making her first start since winning the Women’s PGA Championship a month and half ago for her first major crown.
McDonald captured her first tour title late last month at the Drive On Championship in Georgia in the Tour’s most recent tournament.
Kim came into the third round with a one-shot lead over McDonald then used the birdie run to leave the American behind in the first year tournament which was originally scheduled for May.
“I just trying to keep pushing myself until the last hole,” Kim said. “That is way to make more birdies.”—APP
