It’s tough to win on tour and Leona Maguire got a dose of that reality on Saturday when she began the day with a three-shot lead, shot a two under par round of 70 and yet will go into Sunday’s final round of the Meijer LPGA Classic three shots behind leader Nelly Korda.
A run of six pars to start in Grand Rapids, Michigan, saw Maguire’s lead eaten into by the chasing pack before she fell behind with a bogey at the seventh.
That would be the Cavan native’s only bogey of the day but, in very low scoring conditions after a weather delay due to heavy rain which softened the course up, even three birdies at the eighth, 11th and 14th to finish at 17 under par leaves Maguire trailing Korda who sits at 20 under.
With three birdies in a row to start the day Korda was making quick moves up the leaderboard and she added two more at the sixth and the eighth to go out in 31.
Another birdie came the American’s way on the 10th but then she would actually drop a shot at the 11th, making her 10 under par round all the more remarkable.
After that strong start she would also finish quickly with further birdies at the 13th, 14th, 16th, 17th and 18th.
No Irishwoman has ever won on the LPGA Tour or the Ladies European Tour so Maguire will be chasing history on Sunday when she partners Korda in the final group with Madelene Sagstrom one shot further back at 16 under and Su Oh at 15 under.
Third round scores in the Meijer LPGA Classic for Simply Give, Blythefield Country Club, Grand Rapids, Michigan (USA unless stated, Par 72)
196 Nelly Korda 68 66 62
199 Leona Maguire (Irl) 65 64 70
200 Madelene Sagstroem (Swe) 68 67 65
201 Su-Hyun Oh (Aus) 67 65 69
202 Charley Hull (Eng) 65 70 67, Georgia Hall (Eng) 68 69 65, Anna Nordqvist (Swe) 67 67 68, Mina Harigae 68 66 68
203 Brittany Altomare 68 66 69, Jennifer Kupcho 68 68 67, Sarah Schmelzel 67 69 67
204 Alexis Thompson 68 68 68, Lizette Salas 68 66 70, Jessica Korda 68 69 67, Moriya Jutanugarn (Tha) 68 67 69, Ind-Bee Park (Kor) 68 68 68, Chella Choi (Kor) 67 68 69, Ind-Gee Chun (Kor) 68 67 69, Lauren Stephenson 65 72 67, Lindy Duncan 68 65 71
205 Ally Ewing 68 69 68, Marina Alex 67 68 70, Austin Ernst 69 68 68, Elizabeth Szokol 71 65 69, Perrine Delacour (Fra) 71 64 70, Ssu-Chia Cheng (Tai) 70 67 68, Giulia Molinaro (Ita) 68 68 69
206 Ashleigh Buhai (Rsa) 69 68 69, Amy Olson 67 70 69, Gerina Piller 70 71 65, Cheyenne Knight 71 68 67, Sophia Popov (Ger) 67 73 66, Alison Lee 67 74 65, Muni He (Chn) 70 71 65, Min Lee (Tai) 66 71 69
207 Ariya Jutanugarn (Tha) 66 73 68, Hannah Green (Aus) 70 66 71, Carlota Ciganda (Spa) 69 70 68, Angel Yin 72 68 67, Megan Khang 68 71 68, Gaby Lopez (Mex) 68 70 69, Katherine Kirk (Aus) 70 67 70, Stacy Lewis 71 69 67, Xiyu Lin (Chn) 67 72 68, Jennifer Coleman 71 69 67, Jeong-Eun Lee (Kor) 69 71 67, Esther Henseleit (Ger) 68 72 67
208 Gabriela Ruffels (Aus) 67 72 69, Nasa Hataoka (Jpn) 65 72 71, Ruixin Liu (Chn) 71 68 69
209 Juli Inkster 71 68 70, Christina Kim 68 70 71, Ji-Won Jeon (Kor) 71 70 68, Janie Jackson 70 66 73
210 Caroline Masson (Ger) 69 70 71, Azahara Munoz (Spa) 72 68 70, Mo Martin 73 68 69, Pajaree Anannarukarn (Tha) 67 69 74, Cristie Kerr 69 70 71, A-Lim Kim (Kor) 72 69 69, Albane Valenzuela (Swi) 70 70 70, Esther Lee 69 70 71, Dana Finkelstein 69 70 71
211 Lydia Ko (Nzl) 71 69 71, In-Kyung Kim (Kor) 71 70 70, Jennifer Song 71 70 70, Sarah Burnham 68 71 72
212 Jin-Young Ko (Kor) 69 69 74, Cydney Clanton 70 71 71, Hae-Ji Kang (Kor) 73 66 73
213 Valery Plata (Col) 72 68 73
216 Jeon-Geun Lee (Kor) 73 66 77
