Feng and Choi still neck and neck in China

LADIES EUROPEAN TOUR NEWS RELEASE

From Bethan Cutler, LET Media Manager

Shanghai, China: Defending champion Shanshan Feng and co- overnight leader Na Yeon Choi remained tied for the lead after the third round of the Buick Championship, played in cloudy and blustery conditions at Shanghai Qizhong Garden Golf Club, in China today.

Choi led for most of the day before making bogey on 18 to slip back into a share of the lead with Feng on nine-under-par.

The pair began the third round tied but after a two-shot swing on the second hole, followed by a birdie for Choi on the fourth, the 29-year-old South Korean established a three-stroke cushion. She maintained it for another 12 holes as both she and Feng birdied the ninth and the 11^th, but the world number 18 lost her groove on the back nine in tough conditions, with winds gusting up to 25 miles per hour.

“I think I played really well, especially on the front nine. I had three birdies out there and without a bogey. I think I was a little tired on the back nine,” said Choi, a former world number two whose nine international victories include the 2012 US Women’s Open.

She bogeyed 13 before Feng picked up a stroke on 15. Then, on the par-4 18^th, Choi uncharacteristically three-putted. Choi explained: “It’s a foursome and there’s a lot of wind out there. I had a late dinner last night, so I think my body was a little tired and it was hard to focus on my game out there. My name is still at the top of the leader board so I’m really looking forward to playing tomorrow.”

World number 10 Feng, with 14 career wins including three in China, seemed delighted with her third round of 70 and commented: 

“I had a bit of a rough start because I was nervous to be honest at the beginning, being the defending champion, playing back in China and this is my sponsor’s event, so I do have a lot of pressure. "After two holes, I was like, ‘You know what? I’ve done well for the first two days and so why not just do the same thing, just focus on every shot,’ and I came back slowly. I made a good back nine and I’m happy about the result.”

Just two strokes behind the leaders in third place, Falkirk-based American Beth Allen, the 2015 Ladies European Masters champion, made an excellent birdie putt from 25 feet on 15 before adding another on 17 to keep pace. 

The 34-year-old Californian said: “It was a solid day with tough conditions, and a completely different wind to yesterday. It was tricky.” 

Meanwhile Florentyna Parker, who led for the first three rounds of the Lalla Meryem Cup last week in Morocco before finishing as the runner-up, is only three shots from the lead in fourth place. She is a stroke ahead of fellow Englishwoman Georgia Hall (71), who shares fifth with China’s Wei Wei Zhang on five-under-par and England’s Liz Young, who tied for ninth place last week in Morocco, is in solo seventh place followed by six players on three-under-par.

Local fans are relishing a final round duel between two of Asia’s hottest golfing properties in Choi and Feng, but with heavy rain forecast from 2pm on Sunday, with accompanying winds gusting up to 30 miles per hour, the second edition of the Buick Championship is still wide open

SCOREBOARD
par 216 (3x72)
T1 FENG Shanshan CHN -9 71 66 70 207
T1 CHOI Na Yeon SKOR -9 69 68 70 207
3 ALLEN Beth USA -7 69 69 71 209
4 PARKER Florentyna ENG -6 72 67 71 210
T5 HALL Georgia ENG -5 70 70 71 211
T5 ZHANG Wei Wei CHN -5 74 66 71 211
7 YOUNG Liz ENG -4 69 74 69 212
T8 LENNARTH Camilla SWE -3 72 70 71 213
T8 REID Melissa ENG -3 68 73 72 213
T8 MADSEN Nanna Koerstz DEN -3 70 70 73 213
T8 MORGAN Becky WAL -3 68 71 74 213
T8 JI Yifan (a) CHN -3 69 70 74 213
T8 LIN Xi Yu CHN -3 71 67 75 213
14 VERCHENOVA Maria RUS -2 69 71 74 214
T15 WIKSTROM Ursula FIN -1 76 68 71 215
T15 DERREY Valentine FRA -1 74 72 69 215
T15 LUNA Diana ITA -1 74 72 69 215
T15 SHI Yuting CHN -1 74 73 68 215
T15 SPILKOVA Klara CZE -1 75 66 74 215
T15 JANG So-Young KOR -1 73 67 75 215
T21 KANG Hyeon Seo KOR 0 72 73 71 216
T21 BREGMAN Stacy Lee RSA 0 69 76 71 216
T21 GARCIA Nicole RSA 0 68 76 72 216
T21 YU Pei-Lin TPE 0 72 71 73 216
25 ARTIS Rebecca AUS +1 72 73 72 217
26 PAN Aretha MAS +2 74 70 74 218
T27 TAMMINEN Noora FIN +3 71 74 74 219
T27 SANZ BARRIO Marta ESP +3 74 71 74 219
T27 WALKER Kylie SCO +3 75 72 72 219
T27 BOQVIST Lina SWE +3 69 71 79 219
T31 GIVENS Eleanor ENG +4 72 72 76 220
T31 ASHOK Aditi IND +4 74 73 73 220
T31 LOVELADY Victoria BRA +4 72 70 78 220
T31 SANGCHAN Supamas THA +4 74 73 73 220
T31 YEH Hsin Ning TPE +4 76 73 71 220
T36 BROCH LARSEN Nicole DEN +5 73 72 76 221
T36 BOINEAU Isabelle FRA +5 70 74 77 221
T36 WIRAIRUNGRUENG Ploychompoo THA +5 74 72 75 221
T36 VILATTE Alexandra FRA +5 75 73 73 221
T36 NOCERA Gwladys FRA +5 73 75 73 221
T41 JORGENSEN Malene DEN +6 74 71 77 222
T41 SIRISAMPANT Wannasiri THA +6 72 75 75 222
T41 YANG Tao Li CHN +6 69 74 79 222
T41 CHAMCHOI Saraporn THA +6 75 74 73 222
T45 TIAN Qi (a) CHN +7 73 72 78 223
T45 LEURQUIN Chloe BEL +7 72 74 77 223
T45 SKARPNORD Marianne NOR +7 71 72 80 223
T45 MEECHAI Kusuma THA +7 73 74 76 223
T45 RAMSAY Isabella SWE +7 75 72 76 223
T50 CHEN Connie RSA +8 74 74 76 224
T50 BOOTH Carly SCO +8 73 76 75 224
T52 LIU Ruixin (a) CHN +9 74 72 79 225
T52 BAKAR Ainil MAS +9 74 74 77 225
T52 CAUDAL Anne-Lise FRA +9 78 71 76 225
T55 YAN Panpan CHN +10 76 72 78 226
T55 GUAN Ruqing (a) CHN +10 75 73 78 226
T55 MARTENS Caroline NOR +10 73 75 78 226
T55 PRETSWELL Pamela SCO +10 76 73 77 226
T55 JOHNSON Trish ENG +10 74 75 77 226
60 LIU Yu CHN +11 79 70 78 227
61 BOONRAKSASAT Thanuttra THA +13 71 78 80 229