Sara Byrne entered the final round of the LET’s Aramco Korea Championship with the opportunity to secure full tour status for 2027 and a place in the season-ending event in Spain, but she’ll have to wait another couple of weeks at least after a one-over 73 saw her slip down to T30.
The Cork woman shot up the leaderboard with a four-under 68 on moving day, leaving her tied for 13th in the lucrative event at New Korean Country Club, but she never really got going in the final round. A bogey at the par-4 second was cancelled by a birdie on eight, but she gave that shot back again on nine to turn at one-over.
Another birdie on 11 was followed by back-to-back bogeys on 13 and 14, but she managed to repair some of the damage with a birdie on 17 to end the week at -6 overall and part of a six-strong contingent sharing 30th place.
Anna Foster was the only other Irish woman to make the cut, but she could only managed a level-par 72 – her third of the week with a 70 on Friday being the outlier – to finish tied for 46th.
Byrne remains in 59th on the Order of Merit, while Foster slipped two places to 40th with the leading 70 players keeping full status for 2027 and the top 64 qualifying for the season-ending Andalucia Costa del Sol Open de Espana.
At the top of the leaderboard, Yamashita, a three-time season winner with two LPGA victories and one on the Japan LPGA Tour, hit the front at the 36-hole mark and took a one-stroke lead into the final round.
The 2025 AIG Women’s Open winner would’ve been forgiven for thinking that a 67 would’ve been enough to see her over the line, but Sara Kouskova of the Czech Republic had other ideas. Playing in the group ahead of the Japanese, Kouskova birdied five of her first 10 holes to make the turn at 15-under, while Yamashita managed to play the same stretch in four-under to lead by two.
Kouskova continued to press, adding further birdies on 13 and 14, but each time Yamashita answered with birdies of her own, and when she followed Kouskova’s par on 16 with a birdie of her own, she had built a four-stroke lead.
Kouskova birdied the par-5 17th to get to -8 for the round, but Yamashita had answers to all the questions and went one better to eagle, leaving her the comfort of a four-stroke cushion on the 18th tee.
To cap an incredible effort, the Czech woman signed off with a birdie for a nine-under 63, posting 19-under, but Yamashita’s closing par left her with a matching 63 and a 22-under tally.
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