Angel Yin rides sizzling round to 5-stroke lead in Thailand

Angel Yin carded an 8-under-par 64 on Saturday to seize a five-stroke lead heading into the final round at the Honda LPGA Thailand.

Yin recorded three birdies on the final four holes of the front nine to highlight her bogey-free round. She sits at 21-under 195 for the tournament at Siam Country Club's Pattaya Old Course.

"Off the tee, I wasn't hitting it as well as the last two days, but I got away with some good lies and managed to capitalize on my opportunities," the 26-year-old California native said.

Yin is bidding for her second tour title after capturing the Buick LPGA Shanghai in 2023. She also has two runner-up finishes at majors, including the 2019 U.S. Women's Open.

LPGA Tour rookie Akie Iwai of Japan, who led after the first two rounds, finished with a 71 on Saturday to fall into second place. She had three birdies and two bogeys.

Iwai is seeking to be the first sponsor invite to win an LPGA Tour tournament since Rose Zhang at the 2023 Mizuho Americas Open.

"Actually looking forward to this situation because this is why I came to LPGA Tour, so I enjoy that," said Iwai, who is a six-time winner on the Japanese tour.

Iwai resides one stroke ahead of Thailand natives Moriya Jutanugarn and Jeeno Thitikul, who each shot a 69 on Saturday. Jutanugarn collected six birdies against three bogeys, while Thitkul registered a birdie on holes Nos. 6, 8 and 18.

Thitkul said she was pleased to see the turnout for the event.

"Yeah, saw a lot of the kids here, and then just really trying to inspiring them to, you know, one day -- I used to be that," she said. "I used to be standing outside the rope and watching all the LPGA players doing the things inside. I'm here; it's like a dream come true. I think they see and then they have like more motivation to be good, to be like here, which is really, you know, what we -- what golf and what we did for."

South Korean A Lim Kim (66 on Saturday) is in fifth place at 13-under, one stroke ahead of defending champion Patty Tavatanakit (65) and Nanna Koerstz Madsen (66) of Denmark. Tavatanakit, like Yin, finished with eight birdies in the third round.

--Field Level Media