Rianne Malixi birdied two of the last three holes to save a 71 but fell behind by four as Korean Hyo Song Lee fired a solid 69 on moving day to stay in firm control of the Malaysian Amateur Open at Palm Resort’s Cempaka course in Johor Bahru on Saturday.
Malixi struggled to come off a day-best 68 Friday as she fumbled with three bogeys against two birdies after 10 holes while missing a couple of chances from short range, needing to close out strong to salvage a 37-34 and remain in second at four-under 212.
But Lee turned in a game that kept her in command heading to the final 18 holes of the 118th staging of the event, spiking her second straight three-under card with solid iron shots that netted her birdies on the last two par-3 holes (Nos. 15 and 17).
With a 208 aggregate, the reigning Korean Amateur Open champion doubled her overnight two-stroke lead over the ICTSI-backed Filipina ace, who will need to produce an explosive round to get a title shot at the World Amateur Ranking event.
Hyo Jin Yang, also of Korea, also turned in a 69 to move to solo third at 215 as Singapore’s Aloysa Atienza and Filipina Lois Kaye Go carded 72 and 73 for 217 and 218, respectively.
Go battled back from a double-bogey miscue on No. 1 with birdies on the next and on No. 4. But she stumbled with two bogeys against a birdie at the back to virtually drop out of the title race at fifth with 218, 10 strokes behind Lee.
Mafy Singson, on the other hand, posted a third straight 77 for 17th place at 231.
Lee, Malixi, Atienza and Go all birdied the par-5 No. 4 but Malixi yielded the stroke on the next on a flubbed par-putt bid from four feet. The recent Thai Junior World champion and winner of three pro titles on the Ladies Philippine Golf Tour this year then missed a two-foot birdie putt on the seventh and made another bogey on the No. 9 to fall behind by four as Lee made the turn at 35.