Hye-Jin Choi just keeps cruising along.
The 26-year-old form South Korea fired a 5-under 67 in Saturday’s third round of the 2025 Maybank Championship at Kuala Lumpur Golf and Country Club in Malaysia. She’ll enter the final round at 19 under, four shots clear of the field as she looks to go wire-to-wire for the first win of her career.
Choi made back-to-back birdies on holes three and four to kickstart her round Saturday and again picked up steam when she made three birdies in five holes after she made the turn. She stumbled at the par-4 16th, signing for bogey and carding her lone blemish of the day, but made up for it with a birdie at No. 18.
With 28 top-10 finishes in 98 LPGA starts, Choi has certainly been flirting with victory for a while. After three days of stellar play, she’s on the doorstep once again with perhaps her best chance to get the job done, entering the final day with a four-shot cushion which she hasn’t relinquished since firing an opening-round 64 on Thursday.
“I’ve been waiting for this really long and I’m going to try my best tomorrow,” Choi said after her third round. “I think I will feel like I’m making the dream and I just imagine it. Yeah, I’m just looking for my victory tomorrow.”
Even with a significant lead, Choi can expect a charge from some proven winners who have positioned themselves to at least make things interesting Sunday. Those include major champion Hannah Green, who overcame a double bogey on the par-5 third hole Saturday to sign for 67. She enters the final round in solo third at 14 under, one shot behind Yan Liu, a 27-year-old from China who, like Choi, is seeking her first LPGA win.
World No. 1 Jeeno Thitikul is part of a three-way tie for fourth at 13 under, six shots off Choi’s lead, along with Ayaka Furue and A Lim Kim, who made the biggest move on the leaderboard Saturday with a bogey-free 64.
Thitikul has placed second in this tournament two years in a row and will enter the final round with a chance to do so again. If Choi stumbles, Thitikul could even have an opportunity to nab her third win in 2025.
“You have to make birdies [when you’re chasing],” Thitikul said. “I know [the lead] is far away … but golf, anything can happen. 18 more holes, 18 more opportunities that we have ahead. You know, just need to bring your best.”
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