Ashleigh Buhai, Minjee Lee share 54-hole lead at BMW Ladies Championship in Korea

SEOUL, South Korea — Ashleigh Buhai, a former Women’s British Open champion, showcased her talent at the LPGA South Korea tournament with a stellar performance in the third round. Buhai carded a 3-under 69, securing a share of the lead alongside Minjee Lee, who shot a 71. Both players have a total score of 12-under 204 at the Seowon Valley Country Club.

Defending champion Lydia Ko, a South Korean-born New Zealander, wasn’t far behind, shooting a 69 and sitting just one stroke back. American Alison Lee also had an impressive round, carding a 67 and tying for third place with Ko.

French golfer Celine Boutier, who previously claimed victories at the Scottish Open and LPGA major Evian Championship, briefly held the lead during the back nine. However, two bogeys on 17 and 18 dropped her to a score of 68, leaving her tied for fifth place with American Lauren Coughlin, both two strokes behind the leaders.

“The back nine gets really tricky being up against more of the mountain, especially like holes 12, 13, 14, 15. It really bounces around,” Buhai commented on the challenging course. “So I felt I played those holes really well. Stayed very patient.”

Ko expressed her desire to secure another victory in her home country, stating, “But there’s still a lot of golf to be played, and there’s so many potentially especially good low scorers out there. So I’m just going to go out there and have fun and hopefully play some good golf myself.”

Lilia Vu, the current No. 1-ranked player, struggled in the round, shooting a 74 and falling back to 3-over par.

The South Korea tournament marks the second of four events in the LPGA Tour’s Asian swing. Angel Yin, who finished 4 strokes behind the leaders after shooting a 71, emerged as the winner of the LPGA Shanghai event last week. The tour will now move on to Malaysia and Japan over the next two weeks.