LPGA pro on brink of making even more history at Evian Championship

South Korea’s Jeongeun Lee6 has already made history in France, posting a record-tying round of 61 on Friday at the Amundi Evian Championship. But with a five-shot lead heading into the final round, it looks like she’s primed to make some more.

Lee6 fired a round of three-under 68 on Saturday, bringing her to 18 under through 54 holes. Though Lee6’s round was not perfect — she made three bogeys — she more than made up for her missteps with four birdies and an impressive hole-out for eagle on the par-4 11th. Lee6 used a wedge from 88 yards, and spun the ball right back into the hole.

American Yealimi Noh is Lee6’s closest chaser at 13 under par. Just behind Noh is Lydia Ko at 12 under, and Minjee Lee and Ayaka Furue at 11 under.

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Ko is attempting to win her third career major and second Evian Championship this week. Unfortunately, at six strokes back, she has a large gap to close, and precedent is not on her side. The largest comeback ever at the Evian was in 2017, when Anna Nordqvist came from five shots back to earn a spot in a playoff, where she triumphed over Brittany Altomare. That year, the event was shortened to 54 holes because of bad weather. It will likely take a Herculean effort from those trailing Lee6 to supplant her place at the top of the leaderboard.

A win on Sunday would mark Lee6’s second career major championship. She won the U.S. Women’s Open in 2019, which is still her sole victory to date on the LPGA Tour.

Though she’s unlikely to be too pressed from behind in the final round, Lee6 still has plenty of motivation to go low. No player, male or female, has ever posted a final score of 21 under par or better at a major championship. With one more round of three-under 68, Lee6 could become the first to do it.

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As a four-year member of Columbia’s inaugural class of female varsity golfers, Jessica can out-birdie everyone on the masthead. She can out-hustle them in the office, too, where she’s primarily responsible for producing both print and online features, and overseeing major special projects, such as GOLF’s inaugural Style Is­sue, which debuted in February 2018. Her origi­nal interview series, “A Round With,” debuted in November of 2015, and appeared in both in the magazine and in video form on GOLF.com.

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