AMATEUR SHARES THIRD-ROUND LEAD IN AUSSIE WOMEN'S OPEN

NEWS RELEASE
South Korean Chella Choi blasted a red hot course-record 10-under par 62 in the third round and will tee off with 17 year-old Western Australian amateur Minjee Lee in the final group at the ISPS Handa Women’s Australian Open at Victoria Golf Club, Melbourne on Sunday.
Choi, who is tied for the lead with Lee at 13-under par 203,  equalled the individual low round record at the tournament set by Lydia Ko in 2013. She played the back nine in 6-under-par and had eagles on the eighth and 18th holes.

“I try to enjoy playing and just focus on one shot at a time and just keep putting.  I think if I just always hit the green, I have a lot of birdie chances.  So I focussed on just my shot, before the shot and then shot,” Choi, 23, said.

For Australian Amateur champion Lee it was a 4-under par 68 she described as a “mission” and booked her spot in the final group for the second consecutive week.

Her target?

“Well obviously to make as many birdies as possible but just keep it in play and just keep hitting good shots and getting it close so I can hole the putt, because they weren't really going in.  I'm happy with 4-under, I'm stoked with 4-under really,” Lee said.

When asked about the pressure of co-leading a professional tournament, Lee said she was “cruisy” on the course.

“No, not really, I just play.  I think it kind of lightens it up a little bit because I'm smiling all the time.  I have a good chat with my caddy,” Lee said.

“I think the game plan is always the same.  It's been working so far, so why change it?,” she added.

Chasing Choi and Lee is Kiwi World Number 4 Lydia Ko who moved into outright third place with a 3-under par 69 to be two strokes behind the leading pair at 11-under par.

Norwegian Suzann Pettersen finished with an even-par 72 to drop to fourth place at 10-under par.

No fewer than eight players are tied for fifth place at 9-under par including overnight leader, Sweden’s Caroline Hedwall, Americans Morgan Pressel and Amelia Lewis, England’s Holly Clyburn, France’s Karine Icher and Norwegian Marianne Skarpnord.

Australian Karrie Webb shot a 4-under par 68 to move to 8-under par, five strokes behind the leaders.

A total of 12 players are within four strokes of the lead.
THIRD ROUND SCOREBOARD

203 Minjee Lee (AUS) (am)  68 67 68, Chella Choi (SKOR)  70 71 62

205 Lydia Ko (NZL)  68 68 69
206 Suzann Pettersen (NOR)  66 68 72

207 Mi Hyang Lee (SKOR)  72 67 68, Karine Icher (FRA)  69 68 70, Jenny Shin (SKOR)  74 67 66, Marianne Skarpnord (NOR)  70 69 68, Morgan Pressel (USA)  69 68 70, Amelia Lewis (USA)  71 67 69, Caroline Hedwall (SWE)  68 65 74, Holly Clyburn (ENG)  68 68 71

208 Perrine Delacour (FRA)  70 73 65, Karrie Webb (AUS)  71 69 68, Jessica Speechley (AUS)  71 67 70

209 Rebecca Lee-Bentham (CAN)  73 69 67, Su-Hyun Oh (AUS)  74 69 66, Dewi Claire Schreefel (NED)  70 68 71, Caroline Masson (GER)  72 68 69, Jessica Korda (USA)  67 70 72, Haru Nomura (JPN)  70 68 71, Jing Yan (CHN)  71 66 72

210 Sarah Kemp (AUS)  71 68 71, Paula Creamer (USA)  68 69 73, Carlota Ciganda (ESP)  68 70 72, Stacy Lewis (USA)  71 69 70, Cheyenne Woods (USA)  74 65 71, Diana Luna (ITA)  70 71 69, Amy Anderson (USA)  72 70 68, Valentine Derrey (FRA)  69 69 72

211 Lorie Kane (CAN)  71 71 69, Giulia Sergas (ITA)  68 71 72, Brooke Pancake (USA)  70 70 71, Azahara Munoz (ESP)  68 70 73, Anna Nordqvist (SWE)  72 64 75, Trish Johnson (ENG)  70 73 68

212 Pernilla Lindberg (SWE)  71 71 70, Tiffany Joh (USA)  69 70 73, Ayako Uehara (JPN)  70 68 74, Hannah Burke (ENG)  72 72 68, Sarah-Jane Smith (AUS)  68 72 72, Gerina Piller (USA)  75 69 68

213 Becky Morgan (WAL)  70 74 69, Dori Carter (USA)  70 70 73, Lee-Anne Pace (RSA)  72 67 74, Pornanong Phatlum (THA)  73 68 72, Alison Whitaker (AUS)  71 72 70

214 Austin Ernst (USA)  72 69 73, Marion Ricordeau (FRA)  67 74 73, Hee Young Park (SKOR)  67 77 70, Mirim Lee (SKOR)  74 68 72, Yani Tseng (TPE)  71 73 70, Line Vedel (DEN)  73 68 73, Lindsey Wright (AUS)  73 69 72, Paolo Moreno (COL)  71 70 73, Tamie Durdin (AUS)  73 70 71, Sue Kim (CAN)  72 70 72, Sandra Gal (GER)  73 69 72

215 Jaclyn Sweeney (USA)  67 72 76, Katie Burnett (USA)  69 72 74, Julia Boland (AUS)  70 72 73, Beatriz Recari (ESP)  72 69 74

216 Marina Alex (USA)  71 73 72, Breanna Elliott (AUS)  71 73 72, Sydnee Michaels (USA)  68 71 77, Brittany Lincicome (USA)  71 71 74, Julieta Granada (PAR)  70 70 76, Stacy Lee Bregman (RSA)  72 71 73, Rebecca Artis (AUS)  73 71 72

217 Kelly Tan (MYS)  70 70 77, Eun Hee Ji (SKOR)  70 72 75

218 Nikki Campbell (AUS)  69 71 78, Kris Tamulis (USA)  73 71 74, Hannah Jun (USA)  69 72 77

219 Sandra Changkija (USA)  72 72 75

220 Paz Echeverria (CHL)  72 70 78