Sweden’s Anna Nordqvist roared to the top of the women’s British Open leaderboard with a faultless seven-under-par 65 at a murky and damp Carnoustie on Saturday.
Two-time major champion Nordqvist’s sizzling third round featuring seven birdies and no dropped shots jumped her 22 places up the leaderboard where she is tied on nine under with Denmark’s Nanna Madsen, who carded an impressive four-under 68.
Behind the two Scandinavians is a packed field with 12 players three shots or less behind the leaders.
Leona Maguire meanwhile is four strokes behind the leading pair after she posted a level par round of 72 on Saturday.
The 26-year-old reached the turn on one over after a bogey on the par five six however she flew out of the blocks on the back nine with back-to-back birdies on 11 and 12.
Maguire couldn’t sustain that momentum and gave one of those shots back on the 15th - however she remains on the fringes of contention heading into Sunday and has a top-10 Major finish firmly in her sights.
Elsewhere American Lizette Salas was on her own at eight under after a two-under 70, but her compatriot Yealimi Noh blew her chance of going into the final day as leader after dropping four shots in the testing last three holes for a one-under 71, leaving her three shots off the pace.
Amateur Louise Duncan, one of the few players braving the cool temperatures in a pair of shorts, was also in contention as she continued to impress with a superb 68 to sit at seven under.
World number one Nelly Korda is still in the hunt after her round of 70 left her on six under, the same as Britain’s Georgia Hall who had a disappointing 73 having shared the halfway lead.
Joint overnight leader Mina Harigae had a day to forget as she carded a four-over 76 to drop down to tied 27th.
Nordqvist, 34, looked at home on the Carnoustie course and said her game was coming together at the perfect time.
“I feel like the last few weeks have been solid. I just haven’t made as many putts or scored as well as I played,” she said. “My caddie just told me to keep patient.
“In links golf you test your patience and I feel like I’ve had a great attitude this week. You just never know when your hard work is going to pay off. You’ve got to keep plugging along and putting yourself in positions, and all I can do tomorrow is go out there and try to shoot the best round that I can.”
Collated third round scores & totals in the AIG Women’s Open, Carnoustie Golf Links, Carnoustie (Britain & Irl unless stated, Par 72):
207 Nanna Koerstz Madsen (Den) 70 69 68, Anna Nordqvist (Swe) 71 71 65
208 Lizette Salas (USA) 69 69 70
209 Sanna Nuutinen (Fin) 70 71 68, Madelene Sagstroem (Swe) 67 73 69, Alexis Thompson (USA) 69 70 70, Louise Duncan 68 73 68
210 Ariya Jutanugarn (Tha) 71 71 68, Georgia Hall 68 69 73, Sei-Young Kim (Kor) 67 71 72, Brooke Henderson (Can) 71 69 70, Nelly Korda (USA) 67 73 70, Moriya Jutanugarn (Tha) 72 67 71, Yealimi Noh (USA) 70 69 71
211 Ayaka Furue (Jpn) 74 70 67, Leona Maguire 72 67 72, Su-Hyun Oh (Aus) 71 69 71
212 Hinako Shibuno (Jpn) 70 70 72, Min-Jee Lee (Aus) 71 69 72, Paphangkorn Tavatanakit (Tha) 71 72 69, Brittany Lincicome (USA) 71 72 69, Leonie Harm (Ger) 70 73 69, Pajaree Anannarukarn (Tha) 72 72 68, Wichanee Meechai (Tha) 71 68 73, Atthaya Thitikul (Tha) 71 73 68, Marissa Steen (USA) 73 70 69
213 Stephanie Kyriacou (Aus) 72 70 71, 213 Yuka Saso (Phi) 68 71 74, Jenny Shin (Kor) 71 71 71, Mina Harigae (USA) 70 67 76, Nasa Hataoka (Jpn) 70 72 71, Matilda Castren (Fin) 73 68 72
214 Alice Hewson 73 70 71, Jeon-Geun Lee (Kor) 72 72 70, Eun-Hee Ji (Kor) 72 69 73, Hannah Green (Aus) 73 70 71, Megan Khang (USA) 77 66 71, Gaby Lopez (Mex) 70 73 71, Paula Reto (Rsa) 72 70 72
215 Stacy Lewis (USA) 73 71 71, Angel Yin (USA) 73 72 70, Elizabeth Szokol (USA) 72 72 71, Gerina Piller (USA) 72 70 73, Perrine Delacour (Fra) 73 71 71, Lydia Ko (Nzl) 72 71 72
216 Albane Valenzuela (Swi) 70 73 73, Carlota Ciganda (Spa) 69 75 72, Kelsey MacDonald 75 70 71
217 Emily Kristine Pedersen (Den) 71 74 72, Marina Alex (USA) 72 70 75, Nicole Broch Larsen (Den) 75 68 74, Hae-Ji Kang (Kor) 73 72 72
218 Felicity Johnson 75 69 74, Jennifer Coleman (USA) 72 69 77, Lauren Stephenson (USA) 71 73 74
219 Brittany Altomare (USA) 70 75 74, Lauren Walsh 74 69 76
220 Aditi Ashok (Ind) 71 74 75, Annabell Fuller 71 73 76
221 Chella Choi (Kor) 71 72 78
222 Laura Davies 74 70 78, Ind-Bee Park (Kor) 70 75 77, Jessica Korda (USA) 73 72 77
223 Andrea Lee (USA) 68 75 80, Christine Wolf (Aut) 73 72 78, Jennifer Kupcho (USA) 71 73 79
