- Korea’s Hyo-Joo Kim leads by two shots with 18 holes to play
- Team Kang win the Team competition with a score of 23-under par
Team Kang have triumphed in the Team competition at the Aramco Team Series presented by PIF – Korea after combining to produce a winning score of 23-under-par.
Hyo-Joo Kim is the Seoul leader on home soil after the Major winner fired a round of 70 (-2) to extend her lead to two shots with 18 holes remaining.
The quartet of USA’s Danielle Kang, England’s Lily May Humphreys, China’s Tian Xiaolin and amateur Kyu Ho Lee had posted the clubhouse lead before play was suspended due to heavy rainfall in Korea.
Xiaolin was very much the star of the show on Saturday as the Ladies European Tour (LET) rookie carded five birdies and one eagle for her team.
After yesterday’s afternoon wave returned this morning to complete their second rounds, no squad was able to match the excellent score meaning Team Kang were crowned champions. Team Gustavsson finished two shots adrift on 21-under par.
“I’m extremely stoked right now,” Kang said. “I had some of the best teammates. I mean, we had spirit we had good play, and our amateur crushed it today.
“It’s just been a really good bonding experience, and all I cared about was just trying to win the team event this week. So, we’re here with a three-shot lead, and that’s really exciting.”
In the Individual, Kim had trailed Colombia’s Mariajo Uribe by one shot with eight holes remaining after play was called for the day at New Korea Country Club.
Returning at 6:45am to bright sunshine and soft greens, the Korean made three birdies in five holes on the 13th, 14th and 17th to move three shots clear. She would bogey the par-4 18th to drop her second shot of the round and move back to six-under par.
“I’m very tired!” Kim said, who is making her Aramco Team Series debut this week. “It was too early today. But I am very happy, of course. Yesterday the greens were very firm. But today they were very soft so it was much better than yesterday.
“I’m a little excited. I’m enjoying my golf a lot and I’ll try to win. It’s very interesting [playing at home]. I will go to the range now. Work on a little bit of everything.”
Having also returned this morning to complete her round, Uribe – who chipped in for eagle yesterday on the par-5 17th – made seven pars and dropped a shot on the par-5 5th to slip to four-under par.
The NSW Women’s Open winner said: “It was an early start today. We definitely got the bad end of the draw. But we were playing pretty good yesterday with the conditions. It’s always hard to stop, wake up early the next day and go again. The greens were pretty soft this morning. The whole team struggled adjusting to that. I’m ready to reassess, rest a little bit, and go for it in the third round.
“The chip-in got the momentum going yesterday. But then we stopped so it was kind of hard. I came close to chipping in twice again today. So I’m feeling very comfortable. It was fun to play as team but I’m ready to get into the competitive mode again and fight for the title.”
Joining them in the final group for what should be an exciting Sunday showdown is World No 8 Charley Hull. The English star fired a round of 69 (-3) across both days to move to three-under par.
“I’m really happy considering yesterday was a bit of a washout”, Hull said. “I played pretty decent and am looking forward to the final round.
“I enjoyed playing in the rain. It was a bit of a grind and different challenge. It was completely new this morning and the course is starting to dry out a bit. I feel sound and I’m all good. I’m fit as a fiddle which helps when you have these early tee times.”
Uribe added: “They’re probably the girls I know the most so it’s going to be nice to play with other girls from the LPGA. Hyo-Joo [Kim] is so consistent, it’s going to be a good battle, and Charley [Hull]… it’s never a dull moment with her! It’s going to be fun. We know the caddies too so it’s definitely going to be a different atmosphere.”
Yesterday’s clubhouse leaders, Denmark’s Nicole Broch Estrup and Germany’s Carolin Kauffmann, share fourth on one-under par.
The third and final round of the Aramco Team Series – Korea gets underway at 10:45 local time on Sunday morning. The leaders will go out at 12:40pm. You can watch the finale LIVE on the LET website or find you local broadcaster here.
You can also follow all the action on socials @LETgolf on Instagram and X and Ladies European Tour on Facebook and YouTube – #RaiseOurGame #SeeTheImpact.
