Shin moves into position to contend | Honolulu Star-Advertiser

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Spain's Azahara Munoz watched her drive off the 10th tee in the third round Friday at Ko Olina Golf Club.

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Jiyai Shin, of South Korea, hit out of a sand trap onto the 15th green on her way to a 2-under 70.

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South Korea's Haeji Kang teed off at the second hole on Friday in the LPGA Lotte Championship at Ko Olina, where she enters today's final round at 3-under 213, seven shots behind leader Ai Miyazato.

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Ai Miyazato might not want to look in the rear-view mirror today.

The third-round leader of the LPGA Lotte Championship at Ko Olina Golf Club has the world’s best golfers close behind her as she tries to win the first LPGA event in Hawaii since 2009.

One of those golfers is former world No. 1 Jiyai Shin, who posted a 2-under 70 to jump into a tie for fourth place with four others.

An eight-time winner on the LPGA Tour, Shin got within two shots of the lead at 8 under before a double bogey on 15 kept her from sole possession of second place heading into today’s final round.

"This wind make it too tough — and I only missed the one fairway," said Shin, who will tee off at 10:31 a.m. with World No. 1 Yani Tseng and So Yeon Ryu in the second-to-last group. "The wind was blowing harder than yesterday, so it was hard for players to make a low score, but I did my best."

Shin, who last held the No. 1 ranking for four months in 2010, hasn’t won on the LPGA Tour since the Mizuno Classic in November of that year.

She posted two runner-up finishes in 2011 and has placed in the top three twice this year — most recently at last month’s Kia Classic.

She’s fifth on the 2012 money list but is hungry to end the longest drought of her young career.

"I’ve finished three times in the top 10 this year and it feel like the time is coming," Shin said. "I hope it is."

Anybody who’s been ranked No. 1 in the world rarely has anything left to prove, but this is a big week for Shin.

The last time she missed a cut in a non-major event on the LPGA Tour was the SBS Open at Turtle Bay in 2009.

It was her first event as a full-fledged member on tour after becoming the first non-LPGA member to win three events in a season in 2008.

It was also the last LPGA event to be held in Hawaii.

"Actually, when I was coming back (this week) I was like, ‘ahhhhhh,’ " she joked. "I love Hawaii, but I don’t know how I enjoy playing with winds like this."

Clear skies and warm sunshine continued to be overshadowed by the prevailing winds that kept scores relatively high.

Shin started strong with birdies on Nos. 2 and 3 before a bogey on No. 9 dropped her back to 5 under.

She went on a birdie barrage to start the back, getting three in a row on Nos. 11-13.

She was battling for low round of the day when she ran into trouble on 15, chipping from one bunker to another before missing a 20-footer to settle for her only double bogey of the tournament.

She found the sand on three of the final four holes but made a key save on No. 18 to remain on the front page of the leaderboard.

"The 18th hole is really tough — especially the pin location also," said Shin, who has yet to three-putt in the tournament. "I saved a good par and now I have one more day."