South Korean professional golfer Jenny Shin entered the third round of the Women’s Scottish Open with a commanding five‑stroke cushion and used the day to inch even closer to ending a decade‑long title drought on the LPGA Tour. Her last triumph had come at the Texas Shootout more than ten years earlier, making this tournament a pivotal moment in her career.
From the moment she teed off on Saturday, Shin was aware that she needed to protect the lead she had built up to the 18‑hole mark. She delivered a solid 71, one under par, which kept her total at 12 under for the tournament. That score left her five strokes ahead of Thailand’s rising star Pajaree Anannarukarn, who posted a flawless bogey‑free 69 to surge from fourth place into second place. Behind them, Japan’s Erika Hara matched Shin’s 71, while Germany’s Esther Henseleit carded a 73, both sitting two shots further back at five under par.
Korea’s A Lim Kim occupied fifth place at three under, with Japan’s Miyu Yamashita and 2024 champion Lauren Coughlin trailing just a stroke behind. Shin reflected on the round with candor, describing it as “a very tough round” that left her “quite nervous for the first five holes.” She admitted that the early part of her round felt “boring and nerve‑wracking,” yet she managed to finish the day in the red numbers, a phrase she uses to denote being under par. A particular moment of difficulty occurred on the 10th hole, where she experienced a “hiccup” after changing her setup to cope with the wind.
"I changed my setup this week because of all the wind, but out of habit I lined up the putt and reverted to my old setup. I shut the face.
I knew what I was doing, so I was able to get back into it pretty easily," Shin explained, highlighting her ability to quickly recover from a mis‑step. When asked about the strategy that has kept her at the top of the leaderboard, Shin emphasized the importance of accuracy off the tee. "The key is definitely hitting the fairways and then giving myself opportunities to get on the green. I have a pretty decent short game, so I wasn't too worried when I missed the green because I did it in the right spots," she said.
Her confidence in her short‑game skills allowed her to stay composed even when the ball landed off the green, trusting that she could still save pars or even set up birdie chances. The pressure of holding a five‑stroke lead is something Shin admitted she had never experienced before. "I've never been in this position [a five‑shot lead], so I don't know how to feel.
I'm going to go and practice for a little bit and get a good feel for tomorrow so I'm not such a mess in the morning. The first putt on my first hole today I didn't really know what I was looking at, so hopefully tomorrow will be better because I experienced all the nerves on the front nine today," she confessed, indicating that she intends to use a light practice session to calm her nerves and fine‑tune her routine before the final round. Meanwhile, Solheim Cup veteran Esther Henseleit offered her perspective on the week’s challenges. "It’s been playing tough all week.
I feel like on those first two holes, I got a bit unlucky with my lies. I had to accept that bogey, and then I played pretty good after. I didn’t really hit it very close today, so didn’t have many birdie chances, but I managed to get a couple on the back nine," Henseleit said, underscoring how even top players can be at the mercy of course conditions and luck.
The final round of the ISPS HANDA Women’s Scottish Open is slated to be broadcast live on Sky Sports Golf and Sky Sports +, beginning at midday on Sunday. Fans can also stream the event without a contract through NOW, and a Sky Sports Golf Podcast provides additional analysis and behind‑the‑scenes commentary. For those looking to experience the course themselves, Sky Sports offers a tool to find and book tee times at over 1,700 courses across the United Kingdom and Ireland.
By entering a course name, city, or postal code, golfers can compare prices and secure a round, though the search function currently returns no results for the specific query entered. As the tournament approaches its climax, all eyes will be on Shin to see whether she can convert her sizable lead into a historic victory, ending a ten‑year wait for an LPGA title and cementing her status as one of the tour’s most resilient competitors.