Chandni Canan BauerThe 2026 FM Championship round three leader, Ruoning Yin, reached the top in considerably more entertaining fashion than simply signing a scorecard and walking off.
A chip-in at the final hole carried the Chinese star to 12-under, one clear of Sei Young Kim and Hyo Joo Kim, and turned an already congested leaderboard into a rather more pointed Sunday proposition.
Yin recovers from a difficult opening
For a player who eventually walked away with the lead, Yin spent part of Saturday travelling in the wrong direction.
Two bogeys arrived inside her opening four holes, a start that might have encouraged a less composed player to start chasing shots that were not there. Yin instead repaired the damage and signed for a 4-under 68.
Across three rounds she has made 19 birdies, more than anyone else in the field, which tells its own story. This has not been a week built entirely on avoiding trouble. She has simply been considerably better than most at answering it.
And the most important answer came at the last.
The chip that changed the leaderboard
Yin considered reaching the final hole in two but decided against it as conditions became cooler. She played it as a three-shot hole, watched her wedge travel farther than intended and was left needing to manufacture something around the green.
Manufacture it she did.
“I mean, that hole is always three-shot hole. I mean, I can reach in two but I felt like it’s getting a little cold right now, and so went for three shot. I felt like I hit that wedge shot pretty good and I just don’t know why it bounced so far. But Miyu’s ball was right next to me so I saw the line a little bit. For that chip shot I just tried to focus on the spot I want to hit and just goes in.”
There are more complicated ways of securing a one-shot lead. Few are as satisfying.
The chip moved Yin to 12-under and ensured that her first appearance at the FM Championship will include a place in Sunday’s final-round spotlight.
Sei Young Kim refuses to disappear
Sei Young Kim sits immediately behind at 11-under after a round with rather more plot than most tournament committees would consider strictly necessary.
She birdied three of her opening four holes before making double bogey at the par-4 sixth. Birdies at seven and nine repaired much of the damage before an eagle at the 12th pushed her firmly back into contention.
That eagle also made Kim one of only two players, alongside Rose Zhang, to record at least two through the opening three rounds.
Her position is hardly unfamiliar. Kim has been tied second or better after 54 holes on 24 previous occasions in her LPGA Tour career and converted 11 of them into victories.
A year after finishing third at this event, she is close enough to make the leader uncomfortable without requiring binoculars.
Hyo Joo Kim’s putter keeps her within one
Hyo Joo Kim shares second place after four birdies and two bogeys in round three.
Three of those birdies came on the opening nine before consecutive bogeys at the 10th and 11th briefly interrupted proceedings. She responded immediately with another birdie at 12.
The more revealing number is 79. That is how many putts Kim has required through three rounds, the fewest in the field.
She has made only three bogeys all week and, like Sei Young Kim, possesses considerable experience from precisely this position. Hyo Joo Kim has been tied second or better after three rounds 20 times in her career, winning seven.
She intends to press rather than wait for assistance. “(Through translation.) My goal is obviously playing the best out of the group, and because there is not a lot of difference right now between the scores, I’ll work on a more aggressive play tomorrow to shorten that.”
History says Yin belongs in this position
Yin is chasing a sixth LPGA Tour title and her first since the 2024 Maybank Championship.
Her 2026 season has produced six top-10 finishes from 16 starts, including runner-up results at The Chevron Championship and Mizuho Americas Open. She entered the week sixth in the Race to the CME Globe and ranked eighth in the world.
More relevant to Sunday is her record with trophies within reach.
In each of Yin’s five LPGA Tour victories she entered the final round inside the top four. Two of those wins came after she led or shared the lead through 54 holes.
Victory this time would also make the FM Championship the first event Yin has won on debut. It would take her career total to six LPGA Tour titles and move her beyond $2 million in official earnings for the season.
Hyo Joo Kim, meanwhile, is chasing something even rarer in her own career: a third victory of 2026. She has never previously won three times in a single LPGA Tour season. Sei Young Kim is seeking career victory number 14.
There is therefore rather more at stake than one shot separating three names.
Yin owns that shot for now. After the way she acquired it, nobody should assume Sunday will proceed according to the tidy arithmetic of the leaderboard.
