With her third consecutive round under par, Ayaka Furue (-10) managed to take the lead on her own this Saturday at the Sentosa Golf Club in Singapore, where the HSBC Women’s World Championship is being contested. The Japanese golfer thus managed to overtake the number three in the Rolex Ranking, Celine Boutier (-7), who was leading the ranking at the weekend, and position herself two strokes ahead of Hannah Green (-8) before facing the last 18 holes of the tournament.
Furue quickly took positions on moving day with two consecutive birdies on her first two holes. After reaching eight under par after her second hit, the Japanese was untouchable for the rest of the day. At the par five of hole 5 she signed her third birdie and at the par three of 7, the fourth, reaching the final 10 under par that did not change after a bogey and one more birdie in her second nine for a card of 68 strokes.
🎯🎯🎯
Ayaka Furue | @HWWCGolf pic.twitter.com/gpALul2ZHz
— LPGA (@LPGA) March 2, 2024
Hannah Green, who finished her round with a birdie for a total of 67 strokes, signed her best round of the season to place second and become Furue‘s main rival. Andrea Lee (-7) and Boutier share the third step after a good 67 from the American and an insufficient round at par from the Frenchwoman, who will have to come back if she wants to seal her seventh title on the tour this Sunday.
Furue, for her part, will seek her second victory in the LPGA, first since the Women’s Scottish Open in 2022 almost two years ago, which would place her as the leader in the Race to CME Globe. It would be her first victory in Asia to become the fourth different winner this season, first from Japan, in the first Japanese to win a tournament since Mone Inami in the TOTO Japan Classic last year and in the ninth player from her country to win at least twice on the American tour, when she is just 23 years old.
Birdie in the rain! 🌧️@hannahgreengolf birdies the final hole of the day and ends the round at -8! pic.twitter.com/pvDKwoMHyi
— LPGA (@LPGA) March 2, 2024
As for the Spaniards, Azahara Muñoz (+2) improved 17 positions to tie for 38th place with a round of 69 strokes, three under par, while Carlota Ciganda (+5) could not take advantage of moving day in the tournament and with a round of 74 strokes, which she closed with a painful double bogey on the last hole, fell to tied 49th place, far from the noble area of the ranking.
