Uhm Jae-woong jumped to a three-shot lead in the third round of the Korea Professional Golf (KPGA) Korean Tour’s Baeksong Holdings-Asiad CC Busan Open (total prize money: 1 billion won), giving him a chance to win his first title in five years.

Uhm carded nine birdies and three bogeys for a 6-under 65 in the third round of the tournament at Asiad Country Club (Par 71-7,103 yards) in Busan on Monday.

With a median total of 16-under-par 197, Uhm moved into sole possession of the lead, one shot ahead of second-place Park Sang-hyun (15-under 198).

Second-ranked Uhm, who was three strokes behind leader Park through two rounds at 10-under par, pushed past Park, who dropped two strokes on the day, to move to the top of the leaderboard.

Uhm, who made his Korean Tour debut in 2009 and has one win at the Huon’s Celebrity Pro-Am in September 2018, hasn’t played much on the Korean Tour in recent years, primarily on the Asian Tour.

He missed the cut in both of his previous two Korean Tour events this year, but at this event in his hometown of Busan, he was in contention for the title on all three days.

At the end of the first half of the day, Park held a three-shot lead over second-placed Park Sang-hyun, but after failing to reduce his score in the second half, Uhm Jae-woong went on a tear and took the lead.

After Park holed a birdie off the tee at the 16th (par-3), Uhm responded with a birdie putt of more than 4 meters, and then dropped another 4 meters for birdie at the 18th (par-4) to complete the comeback.

“After my recent runner-up finish on the Asian Tour, my overall shot consistency has improved and I’m putting well. It’s a tournament in my hometown, so I was encouraged by the many people who came to cheer me on,” he said, adding, “I will play the same way I have been playing for the past three days.”

Park, who has 12 career wins on the Korean Tour, surrendered the lead he had held for the past two days but held on to finish one shot behind Uhm to continue his bid to win back-to-back tournaments after winning the Genesis Championship two weeks ago.

Park said, “There were a lot of holes where I missed shots and putts. I was tired and my body tension dropped a lot, so I tried to hold on and defend my score rather than overdo it, but I’m happy that I shot under par without collapsing,” said Park. “I’m only one shot off the lead, so I think I can win tomorrow if I can control my condition.”

Kwon Sung-yeol was third (11-under 202), Shin Sang-hoon and Park Sung-joon tied for fourth (10-under 203), and Genesis Grand Prize points leader Ham Jung-woo was tied for sixth (7-under 206) with Kim Han-byul.

Kim Sung-hyun, who plays on the United States Professional Golf (PGA) Tour, dropped three strokes on the day to finish the third round in a tie for eighth place (6-under par 207) with Lee Tae-hee and Hwang In-chun.

Kim Sang-hyun, who won a set of massage chairs provided by Seragem for his hole-in-one on the par-3 127th hole, is also tied for eighth. 파워볼분석