England’s Charlotte Naughton maintains individual lead, Yunseo Kim
two back after setting women’s competitive course record on Friday
ST. CATHARINES, Ont. – The Republic of Korea (Korea) are looking to become the first country to repeat as champions, following another strong performance on Friday. Korea will take a 10-shot lead into the final round at the 2025 World Junior Girls Golf Championship at St. Catharines Golf & Country Club in St. Catharines, Ont.
For the second straight day, Korea was led by Yeonseo Kim who recorded a 7-under 65 to set the new women’s competitive course record at St. Catharines Golf and Country Club.
All three Korean players were under par again on Friday, with Yun Seo Yang’s 2-under 70 contributing to the team total of 9-under on the day, pushing the defending champions to 21-under overall and leading France by 10 strokes. Teammate Seojin Park carded a 1-under 71; the two lowest scores of the day count towards the team total.
“I am really proud of my team,” said Republic of Korea Coach Min Naon. “Some girls played their best round, and some did not but they hung on to the end and try to make no bogeys and wait for birdies.”
Even with a sizeable lead, Naon will talk to her team tonight and said they will “perform like it’s the first day” going into Saturday.
Spain got off to a hot start in the morning to pull even with Korea through the opening five holes, until Korea regained the lead through six and did not look back, increasing it to six strokes through the opening nine and eventually making it 10 as the third round came to a close.
Behind the leaders is a crowded leaderboard with France currently sitting second at 11-under, Team Canada 1 jumped into a tie for third with Spain at 10-under after firing a team combined 6-under on moving day. Team Canada 1 was led by Clairey Lin of Langley, B.C. who shot a 4-under 68 and Shauna Liu of Maple, Ont.’s 2-under 70. Team Canada 1 is also represented by Michelle Xing of Richmond Hill, Ont.
England was also hot on Friday, firing a combined 7-under to move to 10-under overall and into a tie with Canada 1 and Spain. Team Canada 2 currently sits in sixth at 7-under and was led by Clara Ding of White Rock, B.C., who recorded seven birdies on her way to a 6-under 66. Team Canada 2 is also represented by Eileen Park of Red Deer, Alta. and Ruihan Kendria Wang of Vancouver, B.C.
Ding is enjoying the experience of her first World Junior Girls Championship, after a busy summer having played in the CPKC Women’s Open last month in Mississauga, Ont.
“Playing a lot of different of events has given me a lot more experience and confidence which hopefully I can use to go forward,” said Ding. “It’s been a lot of fun, it’s really nice to have teammates and also Jenn being out here with us.”
Korea will play with France and England in the final three groups on Saturday, click here for the final round groups and tee times.
One day after tying the women’s competitive course record at St. Catharines, England’s Charlotte Naughton carded a 4-under 68 on Friday to move to 12-under for the championship and takes a two-shot lead over Kim into Saturday’s final round.
Naughton shook off an early bogey on No. 3 with back-to-back birdies on Nos. 5 and 6 and went on to add three more on the back nine. The bogey on three was the only blemish on her scorecard over the past two days.
The flat stick was working again for Naughton on Friday, holing two very large birdie putts as she continued to have good control over her pace.
“It was a bit of a different round today I think…didn’t hit as many greens so short game was very good today, so I saved myself a lot,” added Naughton as early morning winds made for some tougher conditions for the field.
Heading into the final round, Naughton will focus on “sticking to her game plan and trying her best.”
In hot pursuit of the leader is Kim, who’s record-setting round was highlighted by seven birdies including five straight from Nos. 5 through 9. The round of 65 was also a personal best for Kim who is representing Korea for the first time in her young career.
“She is really proud of herself and to represent Korea,” said Kim through coach Min Naon.
Naon added that Kim “felt good about her putting” and that coupled with hitting a lot of greens through solid iron play and her focus contributed to her low round.
While chasing Naughton and the individual lead, nothing will change for Kim heading into Saturday, “she will not think about the result and just do her best until the end,” added Naon.
The duo will be playing together in the final group off the first tee at 10:20 a.m. on Saturday.
Ding and Park are tied for third at 8-under, with Nagore Martinez of Spain in fifth at 6-under.
In total, a field of 23 teams, 69 players in total are competing for the team and individual championships. The individual champion will receive an exemption into the 2026 CPKC Women’s Open, taking place at Royal Mayfair Golf Club in Edmonton, Alta., August 17-23, 2026. The top three players and ties will also earn exemptions into the 112th Canadian Women’s Amateur Championship, presented by BDO, taking place at The Toronto Golf Club in Mississauga, Ont., July 20-24, 2026.
Several players who have competed in the World Junior Girls Golf Championship have gone on to great success on the LPGA Tour. Canadian Brooke Henderson, a 14-time LPGA Tour winner and Canada’s winningest professional golfer, finished fourth in the individual competition at the inaugural championship in 2014.
Other notable competitors who went on to become LPGA Tour winners include Jeeno Thitikul of Thailand who won back-to-back World Junior titles in 2018 and 2019 as well as Yuka Saso of the Philippines who won the 2016 World Junior title. 2023 CPKC Women’s Open winner, Megan Khang of the United States competed in the inaugural tournament in 2014. Other former World Junior competitors who have gone on to win on the LPGA Tour include Hannah Green of Australia and Maja Stark and Linn Grant of Sweden. Hye-Jin Choi from the Republic of Korea won both the 2015 team and individual championship at the World Junior Girls Golf Championship and has earned several top five finishes on the LPGA Tour.
For the both the team and individual leaderboard, following the third round of the 2025 World Junior Girls Golf Championship, please click here.
