Lexi Thompson Vaults To Lead After 3rd Round Of 2013 Sime Darby LPGA Malaysia

Lexi Thompson (click to enlarge)

American Lexi Thompson continued her strong play at the 2013 Sime Darby LPGA Malaysia with her third consecutive round in the 60s. The 18-year old’s 5-under 66 vaulted her to the lead at 17-under, 3 shots clear of Ilhee Lee with one round remaining. Lexi had a clean 5-birdie, no bogey round while Ilhee’s 1-under 70 was marred by 2 front 9 bogeys. It looks like a two woman race for the title on Sunday, with third place Suzann Pettersen of Norway 6 shots behind Thompson. However, like Lexi, Suzann also has been in the 60s every round and is capable of going low to the tune of a tournament record every time she steps on an LPGA tournament course. Pettersen is that talented. So, while Lexi and Ilhee battle for the trophy on Sunday in Kuala Lumpur, they should occasionally peek at the leaderboard to see if Suzann is charging.

BIRDIES

Anna Nordqvist of Sweden had the low round of the day at 6-under 65, putting her in a tie for 5th.

After a tough opening round 5-over 76, South Korea’s Na Yeon Choi has bounced back with back to back 3-under 68s in rounds 2 and 3 to get back in red numbers.

Shanshan Feng of China is tied for 3rd with Pettersen at 11-under, which gives her a shot at back to back wins should Lexi and Ilhee stumble.

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LEXI THOMPSON

PAULA CREAMER

IN KYUNG KIM

AI MIYAZATO

SANDRA GAL

CRISTIE KERR

SO YEON RYU

NA YEON CHOI

MORGAN PRESSEL

STACY LEWIS

MIKA MIYAZATO

HEE YOUNG PARK

MICHELLE WIE

JODI EWART SHADOFF

SHANSHAN FENG

AMY YANG

ILHEE LEE

AZAHARA MUNOZ

JESSICA KORDA

ALISON WALSHE

BEATRIZ RECARI

SUZANN PETTERSEN

MAMIKO HIGA

INBEE PARK

NATALIE GULBIS

CHIE ARIMURA

Pos	Start	Player	ToPar	Thru	Today	R2	R3	R4
	1	1	THOMPSON, Lexi	-17	9:51 AM	67	63	66	196
	2	2	LEE, Ilhee	-14	9:51 AM	64	65	70	199
	T3	T3	PETTERSEN, Suzann	-11	9:51 AM	67	68	67	202
	T3	T3	FENG, Shanshan	-11	9:40 AM	67	65	70	202
	T5	T5	NORDQVIST, Anna	-9	9:40 AM	68	71	65	204
	T5	T5	ICHER, Karine	-9	9:40 AM	70	66	68	204
	T7	T7	PHATLUM, Pornanong	-8	9:29 AM	71	66	68	205
	T7	T7	EWART SHADOFF, Jodi	-8	9:29 AM	66	70	69	205
	T7	T7	RYU, So Yeon	-8	9:29 AM	70	65	70	205
	T7	T7	KIM, I.K.	-8	9:18 AM	67	66	72	205
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	T11	T11	PARK, Hee Young	-7	9:18 AM	69	67	70	206
	T11	T11	LANG, Brittany	-7	9:18 AM	65	71	70	206
	T13	T13	WALSHE, Alison	-6	9:07 AM	67	71	69	207
	T13	T13	LEWIS, Stacy	-6	9:07 AM	69	68	70	207
	T13	T13	MASSON, Caroline	-6	9:07 AM	67	70	70	207
	T13	T13	RECARI, Beatriz	-6	8:56 AM	66	71	70	207
	T13	T13	PILLER, Gerina	-6	8:56 AM	70	66	71	207
	T18	T18	WIE, Michelle	-5	8:56 AM	71	66	71	208
	T18	T18	KERR, Cristie	-5	8:45 AM	67	68	73	208
	T18	T18	YANG, Amy	-5	8:45 AM	72	62	74	208
	T18	T18	CREAMER, Paula	-5	8:45 AM	66	67	75	208
	T22	T22	JOHNSON, Jennifer	-4	8:34 AM	71	70	68	209
	T22	T22	MUNOZ, Azahara	-4	8:34 AM	72	68	69	209
	T22	T22	CHOI, Chella	-4	8:34 AM	72	66	71	209
	T22	T22	YOO, Sun Young	-4	8:23 AM	70	68	71	209
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	T22	T22	HEDWALL, Caroline	-4	8:23 AM	68	69	72	209
	T22	T22	HIGA, Mamiko	-4	8:23 AM	68	66	75	209
	T28	T28	PARK, Inbee	-3	8:12 AM	70	71	69	210
	T28	T28	PRESSEL, Morgan	-3	8:12 AM	68	72	70	210
	T28	T28	GAL, Sandra	-3	8:12 AM	69	70	71	210
	T31	T31	HULL-KIRK, Katherine	-2	8:01 AM	74	68	69	211
	T31	T31	KUNG, Candie	-2	8:01 AM	70	71	70	211
	T31	T31	CIGANDA, Carlota	-2	8:01 AM	71	69	71	211
	T31	T31	MIYAZATO, Ai	-2	7:50 AM	69	71	71	211
	T31	T31	LEE, Meena	-2	7:50 AM	70	69	72	211
	T31	T31	PARK, Jane	-2	7:50 AM	69	69	73	211
	T31	T31	JI, Eun-Hee	-2	7:50 AM*	66	72	73	211
	T38	T38	CHOI, Na Yeon	-1	7:50 AM*	76	68	68	212
	T38	T38	SHIN, Jiyai	-1	7:50 AM*	71	66	75	212
	T40	T40	PAK, Se Ri	E	8:01 AM*	72	70	71	213
	T40	T40	HARIGAE, Mina	E	8:01 AM*	68	72	73	213
	T40	T40	LINCICOME, Brittany	E	8:01 AM*	67	72	74	213
	T43	T43	MARTIN, Mo	+1	8:12 AM*	71	72	71	214
	T43	T43	MIYAZATO, Mika	+1	8:12 AM*	72	69	73	214
	T43	T43	CHIEN, Pei-Yun	+1	8:12 AM*	70	71	73	214
	T43	T43	LINDBERG, Pernilla	+1	8:23 AM*	70	69	75	214
	T43	T43	KORDA, Jessica	+1	8:23 AM*	68	70	76	214
	T48	T48	SALAS, Lizette	+2	8:23 AM*	75	70	70	215
	T48	T48	KANG, Haeji	+2	8:34 AM*	72	71	72	215
	T48	T48	WEBB, Karrie	+2	8:34 AM*	71	72	72	215
	T51	T51	ROSALES, Jennifer	+4	8:34 AM*	76	72	69	217
	T51	T51	JUTANUGARN, Moriya	+4	8:45 AM*	74	71	72	217
	T51	T51	HULL, Charley	+4	8:45 AM*	73	72	72	217
	T51	T51	LEE, Jee Young	+4	8:45 AM*	74	70	73	217
	T51	T51	KANG, Danielle	+4	8:56 AM*	70	74	73	217
	T56	T56	CHO, Irene	+5	8:56 AM*	73	76	69	218
	T56	T56	URIBE, Mariajo	+5	8:56 AM*	73	70	75	218
	T56	T56	GULBIS, Natalie	+5	9:07 AM*	69	72	77	218
	T59	T59	SCHREEFEL, Dewi Claire	+6	9:07 AM*	76	71	72	219
	T59	T59	SHIN, Jenny	+6	9:07 AM*	72	73	74	219
	T59	T59	TSENG, Yani	+6	9:18 AM*	71	72	76	219
	T62	T62	*KOH, Michelle	+7	9:18 AM*	70	76	74	220
	T62	T62	*SHI, Yuting	+7	9:18 AM*	74	71	75	220
	T62	T62	GRANADA, Julieta	+7	9:29 AM*	69	73	78	220
	65	65	SERGAS, Giulia	+9	9:29 AM*	71	77	74	222
	66	66	ARIMURA, Chie	+11	9:29 AM*	76	71	77	224
	67	67	LEE-PRIDGEN, Cindy	+12	9:40 AM*	74	77	74	225
	68	68	PAN, Aretha	+18	9:40 AM*	77	71	83	231
	69	69	CONCOLINO, Jacqui	+20	9:40 AM*	76	78	79	233
	70	70	JOHANI, Ainil	+23	9:51 AM*	86	73	77	236
	71	71	BOOTH, Carly	+27	9:51 AM*	77	87	76	240
	72	72	*CHANG, Yu Hsin	+39	9:51 AM*	82	87	83	252