by Al Campbell
TORONTO, Aug. 23 (Xinhua) -- Canada's Brooke Henderson (65) and Australian Lee Min-jee (66) soared with eagles, literally, on Saturday as both players moved up the leaderboard to share a three-stroke lead through three rounds of the Canadian Women's Open.
On a day when halfway leader Akie Iwai struggled to a one-over 72, Henderson, winner of Canada's national championship in 2018, holed out her bunker shot at the 337-yard 17th hole for an eagle two to send the Canadian fans into a frenzy. Lee, the former world No. 1, then went one better in making two eagles in her round at the 12th and 17th holes.
Both players were deadlocked at 11-under 202 at the 2.6 million U.S. dollars tournament being held at Mississauga Golf and Country Club.
World No. 1 Jeeno Thitikul of Thailand shot a two-under 69 to sit equal third with Japan's Iwai at three shots back. China's Liu Yu was a shot further back in equal fifth after a 67, tied with South Korean Lee Jeong-eun (67). Aphrodite Deng Tiexin, the 15-year-old Chinese-Canadian, rebounded for a three-under 68 to sit equal seventh in a group of four players at five shots back.
Henderson, the Canadian No. 1, started the day four shots back and came out firing with a birdie on the first hole. She would go on to card five more birdies, two bogeys and the eagle in pursuit of her first title of the year.
"Yeah, it has not been a good year so far. This definitely is a step in the right direction. Three solid rounds of golf and just happy to be in the final group and playing such - I mean, good golf in front of great crowds," said the Ontario native who will play with Lee tomorrow.
"It will be a tough day tomorrow. Lots of big names, and it will be a tough finish, but I'm looking forward to the challenge."
Lee, who won the Women's PGA Championship in June for her third career major title, carded two eagles, two birdies and a bogey in the hunt for her 12th LPGA Tour title.
"Yeah, I felt like I was hitting it really solid. You know, like with the score that I had, I felt like I left a few out there. So just going to work a bit on my putting afterward trying to get the speed and the line right, and hopefully its exciting Sunday," said the Perth native.
Liu also had an eagle on her scorecard when she holed out with a five-iron on her approach on the 423-yard fourth hole. Her round also included four birdies, two of them coming over the last three holes, and two bogeys.
"Yeah, I think that hole-out really got the momentum going, trending in the right direction, so I was playing pretty free. There was a little bit of hiccups here and there, but I think overall I had a nice flow to my round," said Liu who is still looking for her first win since joining the LPGA Tour in 2018.
"I haven't been really hitting the ball well this season. Been struggling with my ball striking, and last week (in Portland) I feel like I got the most out of my rounds. But I just couldn't really get it going because I wasn't striking the ball well. So Monday I actually had a session with the national team's coach. He was able to point out some good perspectives of what I should be going towards. Glad to see results."
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