HAIKOU (Xinhua) — American golfer Bailey Tardy and New Zealand icon Lydia Ko each carded a six-under 66 on Thursday, joining the leader Sarah Schmelzel of America after the Blue Bay LPGA third round in south China’s Hainan.
The three players currently top the leaderboard with a 12-under 204.
Home favorite Liu Ruixin, who is making her third appearance at the Blue Bay, continued her good form as she shot a three-under 69 and ranks fourth with 206.
According to Liu, the championship is not the priority with her enjoyment of the tournament at the forefront of her mind.
“My thoughts these days are that I haven’t played for a long time and I want to enjoy it and I want to stay relaxed tomorrow,” said Liu.
Canadian rookie Savannah Grewal shot the best one-day result in the tournament history with a 64. She ranks fifth with 207, tied with previous champion Lee Min-jee of Australia.
South Korean An Na-rin, who led with Schmelzel after the second round, had six bogeys for a 76 and fell to 12th.
This marks the Blue Bay’s comeback after 2018 and featured five of the world’s top ten players, including world number one Lilia Vu of America, who withdrew before the second round due to injury.
