Evian Championship – third round
-19 H Ryu (Kor); -16 A Iwai (Jpn); -12 M Saigo (Jpn), B Henderson (Can); -11 C Alexander (SA); -10 L Woad (Eng), M Yamashita (Jpn), J Thitikul (Tha)
Selected others: -8 C Gainer (Eng); -6 C Hull (Eng), L Ko (NZ); -5 J Ewart (Eng); -2 HJ Kim (Kor), R Yin (Chn); -1 SY Kim (Kor)
Full leaderboard
England’s Lottie Woad slipped off the top of the leaderboard at the Evian Championship as Haeran Ryu carded the lowest round in major championship history.
South Korea’s Ryu thrust herself into contention by firing an 11-under 60 in the east of France on Saturday, taking her to 19 under for the tournament and giving her a three-shot lead.
The world number seven is now in contention to win back-to-back majors having claimed her first at the Women’s PGA Championship last month.
Akie Iwai trails Ryu by three strokes and her Japanese compatriot Mao Saigo is four shots further back, on 12 under with Canada’s Brooke Henderson.
Woad, 22, led by one overnight but the world number four carded a one-over 72 to slip to a tie for sixth place, nine strokes off the lead.
Ryu nearly finished with a 59 but her 30-foot putt for an eagle on the par-five 18th hole came up just short.
The 25-year-old still finished with her fourth birdie over her last five holes at the Evian but was not aware she was on the verge of a sub-60 round.
She said: “After the putt, I counted my score with my caddie… ‘Oh my God, it’s 11-under par today’. It was so amazing. I’m so happy right now.”
Ryu recorded nine birdies and an eagle on the par-four sixth hole as she claimed her record round, which surpassed Hyo Joo Kim (2014), Jeong-eun Lee6 and Leona Maguire (both 2021), who all hit 61 at the Evian.
The event is this year’s fourth major out of five in women’s golf and Ryu could win her second in three weeks, after triumphing at the Women’s PGA Championship in Minnesota.
“Yeah, that is an amazing dream,” she said. “I just want that one to come true, but we have one more day and Akie is a pretty good player. Everybody is so good.”
Iwai had eight birdies against two bogeys to remain in contention while Henderson’s round of 64 included eagles on the seventh and 15th holes.