Show only key events Please enable JavaScript to use this feature Buhai and Shibuno are forced to wait in the middle of the 12th lane as Chun enters Repair Mode in green. Chun leaves her long leg short six feet, but takes time to gather herself and rolls into the buoy. That’s a second stroke in three holes for the reigning PGA champion, who drops to -10. Once the fairway clears, Shibuno almost sends her approach into a bunker guarding the front right of the green, but gets a lucky bounce and finds the putting surface. Bouhai follows her, in a slightly less dramatic style. -13: Buhai (11)-10: Chun (12), Shibuno (11)-7: Maguire (F), Lee (14), Sagstrom (13) 19-year-old Thai sensation Atthaya Thitikul really doesn’t hang around big. She’s coming off the back of a fourth-place finish at the PGA and a tie for eighth at last month’s Evian, and she’s certainly a major champion in waiting. He’s not going to make it this year, but he’ll make another statement nonetheless, with back-to-back birdies at 15 and 16, the first the result of a long putt, the second a superb five-iron. . She is -6 overall and 2023 is hers. Buhai and Shibuno both go close with their efforts at 11, but both balls stubbornly stay out. Buhai is a hole closer to home, a hole closer to glory. Meanwhile, on 12, Chun, chipping away at the tough pan, decides to launch her ball high and well past the flag, looking for backspin to bring her ball toward the flag. But she doesn’t get the required spin, and almost sends her ball into bunkers on the other side of the green. There is enough spin for the ball to catch the fringe and stay upright. Two long fakes come for bogus. Pretty damaging, but it was very close to a fiasco that hit the tournament. A big mistake from Chun In-gee on 12. She pulls her approach left of the green, her ball ending up in a swale. She has a 40-yard chip left over a bunker… and with the flag tucked behind, it’s too short. Bogey will be a good result from where she is now. Meanwhile, back at 11, both Ashleigh Buhai and Hinako Shibuno are in regulation, with mid-range birdies to come. 2020 US Open champion Kim A-lim drains a monster putt from the fringe on the back 17 for eagle. It goes up to -5, and if it was at all possible, it could trade that hit for buckets of ready money to the people on the bottom two teams. Buhai and Shibuno play the par-four 10th carefully and without much fuss. Both in regulation, apply long tests to entry distance and settle for parity. Expect more than that, as Leona Maguire explains to Sky: “You have to get your score up front and then move on.” For the nth time today, Minjee Lee leaves a birdie near a turn. She is two under for her round, but could very easily have been much better. For an inch or two at 4, 7, 9, etc. Meanwhile, on the 18th, former world number one Lydia Ko signs for a 68. She will finish inside the top ten at -5. … and so, with the leaders hitting the order, welcome to the start of the 2022 Women’s Open! Good luck calling this one. Ashleigh Buhai is nine holes away from her first major title, but this back nine is playing hard today and anything can happen. So there you go! Leona Maguire is the latest to sign off with an outstanding final round of 66. She won’t win the tournament … not this year, anyway … but this will be her second top ten finish in the majors this season . Don’t rule out the 27-year-old from County Cavan making the breakthrough next year. But for now, she is the club’s new captain. Steph Kyriacou ties it at -7 with birdie at 11, clinging to hope, but Chun In-gee can’t make par at 10 so the gap at the top is still two. -13: Buhai (9)-11: Chun (10)-10: Shibuno (9)-7: Maguire (F), Kyriacou (11), Lee (11) Chun In-gee does get out of the bunker halfway through 10 sides. She hits her third into the center of the green and will have a chance to save her par from 20 feet. Ashley Buhai can’t make her long coat, but she’s well behind the kick-in distance and limits the damage on the buoy. Meanwhile, her partner Hideki Shibuno drops her birdie, and it’s a two-shot swing between the pair in the final group. -13: Buhai (9) -12: Chun (9) -10: Shibuno (9) … but Chun makes a mistake off her own tee at 10. She whistles her drive into the sand right and will almost certainly have to take her medicine by chipping sideways. Meanwhile, on the 9th, Buhai finds the heart of the green with her fourth, but pulls it just short and will have to hole out from 30 feet if she is to salvage par. Meanwhile, Shibuno is in regulation, with a 15-foot look at the birdie. Chun In-Gee teeters cautiously down the par-five 9th, the wind in her face the entire time. She leaves herself a 12-footer for birdie, but there’s plenty of left-to-right swing and she can’t steer it well. However, this gap may still be closed soon. Back down the hole, Ashleigh Buhai clumsily sends her tee shot into a steep-sided bunker on the right of the fairway, and can only advance another 30 yards. She can only lay up her third and has to chip in from 107 yards to save par. A disappointing par on the 17th for Leona Maguire. He would dream of the eagle and post something to give to those who were still out at class break. It remains at -7. Meanwhile, another birdie attempt for Minjee Lee, this time at 10. Her chances are getting slimmer. -14: Buhai (8) -12: Chun (8) -9: Shibuno (8) -7: Maguire (17), Lee (10) From thick rough, Shibuno drives a wedge high into the air, landing her ball eight feet in front of the flag. About the best he could do. Buhai almost drains a 30-footer for birdie, but is more than happy to tap for par. This puts the pressure on Shibuno… but she plays her part. Not ideal, but this could have been a lot worse, and this damage limitation job might help her a little. Buhai remains at -14, Shibuno slips to -9. Shibuno had to take her medicine. He comes out of the bunker and will have a big third on the green. From 180 yards, he pulls a long iron into thick rough to the left of the fairway. Cinderella is not smiling right now. Bouhai twists the knife hitting the second into the center of the green. She will look a lot at the birdie, but her partner will do well to limit the damage here on bogey. Chun’s second 8 tees up a swale to the left of the green. She might consider herself unlucky: a few feet further to the right and she would have been close to the flag. Short sided, she does very well to hit a sensitive chip to four feet and settle to the max. Back down the hole, Shibuno sends her tee shot into the face of a bunker on the right and will be lucky to be left with a shot on the green. Meanwhile, Buhai pulls one into the rough in left. Minjee Lee takes 9th to 34. Nothing wrong with that per se, but it’s not the first time she’s come up short and at -7 she really needs everything to fall. Meanwhile, Pars for Buhai and Shibuno at 7. The latter pair are doing solid for now. Garden-variety pars for Buhai and Shibuno on 6. A good par-up save and down side of 7 by Chun. Time to take stock as the final pair complete the first third of the final round. This will likely become a three-way clash… though Maguire and Lee won’t let it down just yet. -14: Buhai (6)-12: Chun (7)-10: Shibuno (6)-7: Maguire (15), Lee (8)-6: Sagstrom (7), Kyriacou (7)-5: Boutier ( 14) F), Yamashita (8) 19-year-old American Rose Zhang will lift the silver service for low amateur at the awards ceremony. The only amateur to survive the cut, she ends up with a bogey, but she’s all smiles anyway, firing a 73 today and capping off a hugely impressive week at +1. She already has an 11th place finish in the ANA Inspiration on her CV and we will hear from her in 2023, no doubt in a professional capacity. Updated at 17.05 BST Minjee Lee isn’t out of it yet. A second birdie in three holes, this time on 8, despite taking an iron off the tee for safety and missing the fairway. It is -7. But a mini disaster for Steph Kyriakou in the 7th place. She misses the green short and right, then fails to get up on the bank with her chip. A clumsy second attempt leaves a long bowler and misses. A double, and in short order, gives back the two shots she took at 5 and 6. Such a shame for the young Aussie. Eagle for Hinako Shibuno on the par-five 5th! He responds to veteran three-putt bogeys by hitting the second into the heart of the green and rolling to the 15-footer. He was walking after that the second he hit it. Partner Ashleigh Buhai looks to be in a spot of trouble, facing a downhill bunker shot, but launches superbly to four feet and settles for a nerve-wracking birdie. He has eliminated pars from the start today, so the ups and downs could be game-changers. Meanwhile, another birdie for Chun In-gee, who makes up for a disappointing score on 5 by sinking a monster birdie on 6. -14: Buhai (5)-12: Chun (6)-10: Simuno (5)-8: Kyriakou (6) Stefania Kyriakou drains another long birdie! That at 6 moves her into a share of third at -8. The 21-year-old from Sydney has already pulled off a few surprises in the majors, tying for 13th in this tournament last year at Troon, then finishing in the top ten at her first PGA earlier this year. This is shaping up to be her best finish yet. Chun In-gee is very close to reducing the deficit at the top to one. He tickles a 12-foot downhill 5 at the rim, the ball stubbornly refusing to drop. She’s smiling…
