Leading the way in the penultimate pairing for the final round is Yaeeun Hong (Seoul, People’s Republic of Korea) after turning in a 4-under par 68 on day two.
“Yesterday I played in the afternoon and the wind was pretty hard,” Hong said. “I thought that tomorrow morning would be better and I came out and it was the same. But I think I am strong in the wind, so I told myself I think there is a way I can stay on the leaderboard and not do a big mistake. I wanted to just make par and with the short par-5’s if I have a chance then try to make it. It doesn’t look too hard but there are a lot of tricks on this course. The greens are much faster and firmer than the practice round and pin positions that are a short way to go but a lot tricks around it like bunkers and hazards. On No. 9 I put it in the hazard and told myself ‘ok this is TPC’, I need to just stay on the course.”
Hong came into this week after claiming he career top-10 in only her ninth start on the Epson Tour. The eighteen-year-old standout represented her country at the 2018 World Amateur Team Championship and helped capture a bronze medal, She was the winner of the 2019 Australian Women’s Amateur Championship to earn an exemption into the ISPS Handa Vic Open and ISPS Handa Women’s Australian Open.
“I feel very comfortable playing in the tournaments right now and I was feeling good in my practice this week,” Hong said. “With the week off it did make me a little nervous so I put pressure on myself yesterday, but I thought to myself, there are 10 more tournaments left I can do this.”
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