Australian golfers Hannah Green and Minjee Lee surged to the forefront of the leaderboard on Saturday, securing a one-stroke advantage after the third round of the HSBC Women’s World Championship.

Hannah Green, who claimed victory at the Women’s PGA Championship in 2019 and conquered the Singapore tournament in 2024, delivered a strong performance with a 4-under 68. Meanwhile, three-time major champion Minjee Lee carded a 69, both amassing 11-under 205 totals over three rounds at the Sentosa Golf Club.

In close pursuit, American Angel Yin posted a 68, and South Korea’s Haeran Ryu shot a 70, leaving them tied for third in this competitive LPGA event.

As the final group reached the eighth hole, a tight battle unfolded with six players sharing the lead at 9-under. Yin made her move with a remarkable birdie from off the green on the 10th hole, overtaking fellow American Auston Kim, who had led the tournament through the initial two rounds.

Kim encountered challenges with consecutive bogeys on the seventh and eighth holes, causing her to slip from the lead. Yet, she demonstrated resilience; after her ball found a hazard off the green on the eighth, she was forced to return to the fairway for her fifth shot. Impressively, she managed to sink a 20-foot putt for bogey, lessening the potential setback.

Kim concluded her round with a 73, placing her in a tie for sixth at 8-under, trailing Green and Lee by three strokes.

“Definitely, there are a lot of birdies to be made but it’s very easy to make bogey,” Green said. “So I think just limiting as many of those as possible.

“I’ve been hitting the ball into the greens, so if I can continue to do that, and even though I’m playing with Minjee, we are good friends, I don’t want to get too caught up in what her scores are.”

Yin said the margins were close in the third round.

“Good golf and good luck. Honestly there’s nothing much you can do to it,” Yin said. “There’s a lot of instances today where it was like one hole, I made this unbelievable up-and-down. That’s skill and luck to me. So get lucky and get good.”

Lee won her first major in 2021 at the Evian Championship, her second at the U.S. Women’s Open in 2022 and her third at last year’s Women’s PGA Championship.

Top-ranked Jeeno Thitikul, who won last week’s tournament in her native Thailand, shot 70 Saturday that left her at 3-under. She was tied with defending champion Lydia Ko and Brooke Henderson, who each shot 71, all eight strokes behind the leading Australians.

The 72-player, no-cut tournament is the second of three stops on the LPGA’s early year Asian swing, with the final one next week at Hainan Island, China.

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AP golf: https://apnews.com/hub/golf