Jenny Shin carded a 1-under-par 71 on Saturday to maintain her five-stroke lead heading into the final round of the Women’s Scottish Open in North Ayrshire.
Shin recorded two birdies and a bogey at Dundonald Links on Saturday to ascend to 12-under 204 for the tournament.
The 33-year-old South Korean is bidding for her first LPGA Tour win since capturing the now-defunct Volunteers of America Texas Shootout 10 years ago. The last LPGA Tour player to go 10 or more years between official victories was Vicki Fergon, who went 12 years and three months between wins at the 1984 S&H Golf Classic and the 1996 Michelob Light Heartland Classic.
“I’ve never been in this position (a five-shot lead), so I don’t know how to feel (on Sunday),” Shin said. “I’m going to go and practice for a little bit and get a good feel for tomorrow so I’m not such a mess in the morning.”
Shin made a birdie on the sixth hole and answered a bogey on the 10th hole by making another birdie on No. 11.
“That was a very tough round. I was quite nervous for the first five holes, so I’m really glad that I was able to finish the day in red numbers,” she said. “It was a pretty boring and nerve-wracking day at the same time.”
“That was a bit of a hiccup on No. 10. I changed my setup this week because of all the wind and out of habit, I lined up the putt and went back to my old setup. I shut the face. I knew what I was doing, so I was able to get back pretty easily.”
Shin holds a five-stroke lead over Thailand’s Pajaree Anannarukarn, who had three birdies during her bogey-free round of 69.
“I would say almost everything went well,” Anannarukarn said. “I was driving the ball well and hitting it good out there. The putter was very hot today, so that was the key. It was a challenging day, and also, at the same time, I had good fun battling with the wind. It was a great day out there.”
Japan’s Erika Hara (71 on Saturday) and Germany’s Esther Henseleit (73) sit at 5 under for the tournament.
Despite her troubles, Henseleit said she wasn’t going to press as she attempts to record her first win since joining the LPGA Tour in 2020.
“It’s really hard to press on this golf course, to be honest. Just no matter like if you want to take birdie or par, you kind of have to hit the same shots because they are the only possible shots,” Henseleit said.
“So I don’t think my game plan really changed, and yeah, I’m just trying to do my thing out there and hopefully tomorrow I can hit a few close and make some putts.”
