Women's PGA Championship 2022: In Gee Chun comes back to the pack after difficult day as Lexi Thompson surges
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Updated 25/06/2022 at 20:43 GMT
In Gee Chun began the third day of the Women's PGA Championship 2022 at Congressional on Saturday with a six-shot lead. That advantage went out to seven at one stage to threaten a blowout, but she opened the tournament back up when making a complete mess of the 16th. Lexi Thompson is one of the players ready to pounce on Sunday.
Lexi Thompson talks to her caddie during the KPMG Women's PGA Championship at Congressional Country Club on June 25, 2022 in Bethesda, Maryland
Image credit: Getty Images
The Women’s PGA Championship is back in the melting pot after runaway leader In Gee Chun came back to the field after a horror hole on the back nine at Congressional on Saturday.
The two-time major winner started the third round with a six-shot lead, but things yo-yoed all day - with the advantage fluctuating between seven and three shots.
She ended the day with a three-shot lead, to give a host of players hope of chasing her down on Sunday.
Chun did not produce the quality of the first two days (64 and 69), and the major error at 16 opened the tournament back up.
The error was the second shot on the par five, as it went way right and into the fescue. From there, she compounded the mistake by being too greedy and tugged the ball left and into an unplayable lie.
After flying the green with her fifth, Chun was staring at a huge number but she got up and down for a double-bogey seven.
She steadied the ship with pars on 17 and 18, but the four bogeys and a double bogey show that she could be pressured on Sunday.
Lexi Thompson made three birdies on her back nine to move to five-under for the tournament and within striking distance should Chun show any signs of weakness.
“I played very aggressively today,” Thompson said. “I will have the same routine (tomorrow), make sure I am nice and relaxed and go into tomorrow with a positive attitude and focus on what I can control.”
Hye-Jin Choi carded the same round of 70 as Thompson to sit alongside the American at five-under. Sei Young Kim is also in the group at five-under.
Lydia Ko arrived at Congressional as the No. 1 putter on tour, but the New Zealander had a tough time with the short stick as she slipped back to one-under.
Nelly Korda will not be defending her title as she failed to make any inroads on moving day. The American started the day at one-over and finished in the same spot after a round of 72.
Georgia Hall’s hopes of a high finish were dashed by a round of 75 to drop her back to two-over, while Mel Reid is at the same number after a 74.
Leona Maguire had her worst round of the week, a 77, to send the Irish player tumbling down to seven-over.
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