Soomin Oh (Queen Sirikit Cup Photo)
An epic showdown between two of Asia-Pacific’s golfing powerhouses is in store for the final round of the 44th Queen Sirikit Cup at Clearwater Golf Club tomorrow, with Australia and Korea sharing the lead.
Korea caught the Australians, who slipped to two-over-par, after combining for an impressive three-under-par in gusty conditions on a moving day, making up three shots over the round two leaders as they searched for an amazing 23rd victory in the team’s event.
Japan remains in third, four shots behind, with the hosts New Zealand climbing a spot into fourth after recording an impressive two-under total today, finishing seven-over after three rounds.
Scoring remained difficult as the wind switched to a south-westerly that gusted upwards of 30 kilometres an hour for the third straight day. Only five players managed sub-par rounds, highlighting how difficult scoring was on the difficult resort-style layout.
The highest-ranked player in the field,
Soomin Oh, was one of those five who shot under par, finishing with the equal second-best score of the day – a three-under-69.
Oh is currently ranked No. 69 in the Golfweek/AmateurGolf.com World Rankings. Oh won the 2023 Song Amateur Cup and recently finished T26 at the Women's Asia Pacific Amateur.
Oh, who finished Hana Financial Group Singapore Women’s Open a couple of weeks ago, made four birdies and a bogey to climb five places into second individually, assisting Korea to an impressive third-round total.
She credits a strong driving performance and a clear mind as the key to her score.
“I played calmly, focused on one shot at a time, and stayed in the present moment.”
Korea boasts an impressive record, winning 13 of the past 15 Queen Sirikit Cups. The only countries to upset the most successful nation are Australia and Japan, which won in 2022 and 2013, respectively.
Oh says her team will be in for a tough battle tomorrow, but it would mean a lot to get over the line.
“It would be cool if we won as a team. It’s a team event, so if we were to win, we’d be pretty hyped that we were able to do it together.
“Even if I don’t play well, I know my teammates will help me out. It helps me stay relaxed out there.”
Australia’s Sarah Hammett remains ahead in the individual leaderboard despite a tough third round, shooting a four-over-76 to be one-over through three rounds, a shot ahead of Oh and a couple ahead of Korea’s Hyosong Lee and New Zealand’s Vivian Lu.
She started solidly on Clearwater’s front nine, making a couple of birdies and a bogey to get to four-under-par. Unfortunately, she struggled coming home, making a further three bogeys and a double to fall back to the chasing pack, recording Australia’s non-counting score today.
Despite the challenging third round, she still feels confident heading into tomorrow’s decider.
“I feel like my game is still in good shape – I played well on the front nine and then it fell apart on the back nine a little bit. I’m still feeling confident heading into tomorrow.”
Justice Bosio and Caitlin Peirce carded the counting scores for the Aussies, both shooting even-par.
Australia last won the event 11-years ago when LPGA Tour star Minjee Lee inspired them to victory.
ABOUT THE Queen Sirikit Cup
Also known as the Amateur Ladies Asia-Pacific
Invitational Team Championship. Teams of 3 players
representing 15 different countries play 72 holes of
stroke play competition.
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