HSBC Women’s World Championship: Ayaka Furue takes two-shot lead into the final round in Singapore
- Furue cards four-under-par 68 to move clear of the field at Sentosa Golf Club
- Hannah Greens moves into second, while overnight leader Celine Boutier drops back to third
Ayaka Furue’s putter remained red hot in a wet and windy Singapore on Saturday, as the Japanese golfer opened up a two-shot lead at HSBC Women’s World Championship.
Furue’s four-under-par 68 at Sentosa Golf Club took her to 10 under overall, clear of Hannah Green, who sits alone in second after her 67.
The 23-year-old is No 1 on the green at this week’s tournament, averaging 26 putts per round, and the only blemish on her card was a bogey at the par-4 12th.
“I didn’t do anything special [to prepare] for the tournament, but it was really hard to read the green on the first day,” Furue said. “But after playing the first day, I kind of maintained my putting and I kept going on.
“I was just thinking about catching up with Celine [Boutier] today and making birdies. I just feel good.”
Boutier went into the day with a one-shot cushion over her Japanese rival, but that disappeared as the Frenchwoman struggled around in an even-par 72, which included a front nine featuring three bogeys, a birdie and an eagle in the space of six holes.
That left Boutier in a tie for third on seven under, alongside Andrea Lee, who moved up the leaderboard with a five-under 67.
“I didn’t really have the best of starts,” Boutier said. “I missed a few greens on the front nine and had a few bogeys, and then had a chip-in on No 8 to get me back to even, and then I kind of scrambled from there.
“I feel there’s definitely some positives about today, but still frustrating because I feel like my game was so different and not where it needs to be. But I’m happy to have another chance at it tomorrow.”
Two-time defending champion Ko Jin-young moved well up the leaderboard with a round-of-the-day 66 and was four strokes behind and tied for fifth in the 66-player, LPGA Tour no-cut tournament.
