Kimberly Kim had trouble at the 18th hole again yesterday, but shot a 2-under-par 69 to share the lead after the third round of the Westfield Junior PGA Championship in Westfield, Ohio.

Kim, a 15-year-old former Big Island resident, is tied with 12-year-old Alexis Thompson, of Coral Spring, Fla., at 1-over 214. Thompson shot a 66 yesterday.

Kim bogeyed the 18th hole, a 424-yard, par-4, to drop into the tie with Thompson. Kim bogeyed the hole in the first round and double-bogeyed it on Thursday, but still held a one-shot lead.

Kim, who lives in Arizona, and Thompson are one shot ahead of Cassandra Blaney (68) and two shots in front of Vicky Hurst (67).

Kristina Merkle, a Moanalua junior, shot a 71 and was 29th at 228. The top 30 made the cut to play in today's final round.

Thompson became the youngest player to compete in the U.S. Women's Open two weeks ago.

In the boys division, Chan Kim was the only player with Hawai'i ties to make the third-round cut. Kim, a former Hawai'i high school golf champion, shot a 1-under 70 and was tied for 15th at 3-over 216.

Chris DeForest, of Coteskill, N.Y., shot his third consecutive round in the 60s (67) and has a six-shot lead entering the final round at 200.

Makawao's Robert Greenleaf finished with a 76—223 and Kailua's David Fink shot a 74—227. The boys cut was 220.

Information from www.pga.com and www.ajga.org were used in this report.