EVIAN-LES-BAINS, France | Past Amundi Evian champion Minjee Lee has muscled her way into the top three at Evian Resort Golf Club, firing a 5-under 66 to move from T12 to T3 with 18 to play in France. Lee made two birdies in her first four holes to kick off the third round but erased that effort with back-to-back bogeys on holes five and six. She recovered quickly with birdies on Nos. 7 and 8, and parred the par-5, 9th hole to turn in 33, now 4-under for the tournament. Lee made birdie on the par-3 12th and par-5 15th holes to move to 6-under, grabbing one last birdie on the par-5 18th hole to post a 66 and sit four back of the lead at 7-under total.
Today's round is Lee's lowest score in The Amundi Evian Championship since she fired a 7-under 64 in the final round of the 2021 edition of the major en route to her first major victory. So far this week, the Australian feels like she has been stuck in neutral after opening with rounds of 69 and 71, so finally seeing a number deep in the red was a breath of fresh air on a rainy day at the Champions Course.
"I feel like I've had something missing the first couple of days, and then today I still made two bogeys on 5 and 6 I think," said Lee, who won the 2018 Amundi Evian Championship in a playoff with Jeongeun Lee6. "I finished the front nine strong and then had a good back nine. You could be a little bit more aggressive today just with the conditions, not much wind, and obviously the 15th and the 18th being kind of reachable. I felt like it was kind of coming together, so hopefully I can keep the momentum going for tomorrow."
This is Lee's 11th start of the 2023 season, and so far this year, she has recorded six top-20 finishes in her last six LPGA Tour events, the best of which is a runner-up result that came at the Cognizant Founders Cup when she lost in a playoff to Jin Young Ko. Along with that week in Clifton, N.J., the 27-year-old has been within five of the lead entering the final round one other time this year at the Mizuho Americas Open, where she ultimately finished T13. This is Lee's ninth appearance at the Amundi Evian Championship, and in addition to her 2018 victory, she has three other T16 or better finishes, the most notable of which is a tie for 11th that came in 2015 during her rookie year.
Considering her history with this venue and her previous success, the four-shot deficit Lee will need to make up on Sunday isn't as gaping a margin as it may seem. She was seven back of the lead entering the final round in 2021, firing a 7-under 64 to get herself in a playoff with Lee6, so four shots won't seem like much for the tried-and-true Amundi Evian Championship veteran as she looks to chase down 54-hole leader Celine Boutier and capture her third major title.
"I think I've been here ten or so years or something. I also played as an am," said the two-time major champion. "Over the years, you kind of get the lines right and the quirkiness of the greens a little more down pat so I think it's been helping. Every year I come I feel like there is somewhere that I haven't been on the course before. It's good to have the experience under my belt."
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