Nasa Hataoka rattles in a right-to-left 20-footer on 9, and that’s her second birdie in three holes. She’s back to -2. She’s going round with Shanshan Feng, who has now grabbed second spot all for herself after sending her approach to four feet and tidying up for birdie. Back down the hole, Thompson splits the fairway with a booming 3-wood. And up on 10, Khang sends her second pin high to eight feet, and knocks in the birdie putt. It only just drops, mind. That needed every single joule of energy. She smiles at her caddy and mimes a heart flutter. Khang is great value.

-8: Thompson (8)
-4: Feng (9)
-3: Yin (10), Khang (10), Saso (8)
-2: Hataoka (9)
-1: Lee6 (9)

Saso chips delicately to a couple of feet. What an up and down! The 19-year-old Filipino has responded excellently to those back-to-back doubles early in her round. For a while it looked as though her head was spinning, but she’s showing real moxie here. Thompson meanwhile leaves her long birdie putt four feet short, and here comes the first test for a player whose flat stick has misbehaved in the past. No problem! In it goes. The gap’s still five.

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