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Womens Amateur Asia-Pacific
Yunseo Yang retains lead after roller-coaster third round of Women's Amateur Asia-Pacific
14 Feb 26
7 mins
Yunseo Yang survived a roller-coaster round to remain in pole position to end Korea’s Women’s Amateur Asia-Pacific (WAAP) victory drought.
The 18-year-old went through the full gamut of emotions en route to an even-par 72 in round three at Royal Wellington. Three-over through seven holes, she produced a gutsy comeback, covering the final 11 holes in three-under to retain her place atop the leaderboard for the third day in succession. Heading into Sunday’s final round, Yang leads the way on 13-under-par 203 – two strokes ahead of compatriots Gyu Been Kim and Soomin Oh. Kim, who led for much of the day and saw birdie attempts lip out at 14 and 15, four-putted the final green for a double-bogey seven and a round of 71. Oh, runner-up last year, compiled a five-under-par 67 which included the shot of the championship, a seven-wood from 218 yards at the par-5 10th that stopped inches short of dropping into the cup for an albatross-two. Despite a frustrating day when the golfing gods appeared determined to derail her chances, Rianne Malixi of the Philippines is still very much in contention. Birdie-less for the first 13 holes, the 2024 US Women’s Amateur champion carded a 73 to leave her in fourth place on nine-under 207. Korean Seojin Park snared eight birdies in a best-of-the-day 66 to climb up to fifth place on 208 with Hong Kong, China’s Arianna Lau a further shot back in sixth. With stiff south-westerly breezes placing a premium on ball control, it proved to be a fascinating day of twists and turns with only six of the 50 players who survived the half-way cut managing to break 70. Although Yang, 44th in the World Amateur Golf Ranking® (WAGR)®, was not among them, she’s well placed to become the first Korean winner of the region’s pre-eminent women’s amateur championship. To date there have been numerous near-misses in the WAAP for Korea with Minsol Kim (2023), Hyosong Lee (2024) and Oh last year all having had to settle for second place. Yang’s prospects did not look too clever after seven holes in round three, having missed short par putts at the 1st and 6th and run-up a double-bogey six at the 7th where her drive finished against the base of a tree. She had to play out backwards and then found a greenside bunker with her third shot from where she failed to get up-and-down. Her fortunes – and body language – improved at the short 8th where she holed a lengthy birdie putt. She picked up further shots at 10, 14 and 16 to regain top spot. Not even a clumsy bogey-six on the final hole could take the gloss off her comeback.
Yunseo Yang ultimately ended day three where she started, atop the WAAP leaderboard
Yang, who also salvaged an improbable par at the long 4th where she holed a 30-foot putt having hit her second shot into the water hazard, said: “I got impatient after missing a short putt on the 6th hole and my tee shot on the 7th didn’t go my way, either. I became too greedy and ended up posting a big number. At the beginning of the back nine, I kept telling myself, ‘It’s not over. I can still make up for it’. That helped me finish on a positive note.
“There’s one more day left. If I approach it with the mindset of starting fresh, I think a good result will follow.”
In contrast to Yang, Kim began brightly, easing to three-under through 10 to assume the lead. From there, bogeys at 11 and 13 were offset by birdies at 12 and 16 before her putter betrayed her on the 18th. Her birdie effort from 35 feet raced five feet past the cup from where she required three more attempts.
Like Yang and Kim, her playing partners in the final group, Malixi also had a double-bogey on her card. Losing her footing as she struck her tee-shot at the par-5 2nd hole, her ball disappeared straight left out of bounds, resulting in a seven. Her equilibrium was further tested following a bogey at the 5th where her wedge approach struck the pin and bounced off the green.
She said: “I hit a lot of really good iron shots, but the putts weren’t dropping. It was really frustrating and I just tried my best to be patient. I just want to play some good golf tomorrow. I deserve some putts at least. I made zero putts today, so I wish tomorrow that changes.”
A large crowd watches Rianne Malixi putting at Royal Wellington
Jeneath Wong’s hopes of a successful title defence may have evaporated, but the Malaysian had the distinction of posting the only bogey-free round of the day, a typically gutsy performance during which she hit 17 greens in regulation, making 16 pars and birdies at the 1st and 10th. She enters the final day in joint 17th place.
In what is shaping into an intriguing race to finish as the leading New Zealander, Darae Chung and Teresa Wang both carded 71s and are in a share of 22nd place on one-over 217. That is two in front of Vivian Lu, three ahead of Eunseo Choi and 13-year-old Elise Barber, the youngest player in the field, and four clear of Caitlin Maurice.
All the players have praised the galleries that have made their way to Royal Wellington. Lu said: “It’s so good to see people out here watching golf. I was walking down one of the holes with Caitlin and I was like, ‘Wow, I'm surprised this many people are out here’. It's really cool that there are a lot of people watching women's golf.”
The WAAP was developed by The R&A and the Asia-Pacific Golf Confederation (APGC) to nurture talent and provide a pathway for the region’s elite women amateurs to the international stage and the rewards on offer are significant. The champion will earn exemptions into three major championships in 2026, the AIG Women’s Open at Royal Lytham & St Annes, The Amundi Evian Championship in France and the Chevron Championship in the United States.
The WAAP is proudly supported by Rolex, ISPS Handa, Royal Wellington Golf Club, Samsung, Hana Financial Group, Nippon Kabaya Ohayo Holdings, Peter Millar, Titleist, Sparms, New Zealand Mercedes-Benz and Tongariro, as well as investment partners New Zealand Major Events and Wellington Council and host association Golf New Zealand.