Leona Maguire fired a third-successive two-under-par round of 70 at the HSBC Women’s World Championship in Singapore, and though it moved the world number 11 up to a tie for 15th, she now trails leader Jin Young Ko by eight.
An untimely rain delay halted Maguire’s early charge in round two, and the third round was again suspended as Sentosa Island on Singapore’s southern tip, perched just above the equator, continued to be bombarded with tropical thunderstorms.
This time, the weather delay came late in Maguire’s round, and without having built the same momentum, wouldn’t prove as costly.
She started moving day in blistering fashion, carding birdies at the par-4 first and second holes and seemed poised for a charge up the leaderboard, but seven successive pars followed and she made the turn at -2 for the day.
She’d drop a shot with a bogey-five at the 11th, but that was cancelled out with her third birdie of the day, this coming at the par-5 13th.
A two-hour play-suspension followed, and she’d par her way home afterwards to sign for her third 70 in succession, climbing six places on the leaderboard in the process.
A second LPGA Tour victory looks out of the equation, however, after defending champion Jin Young Ko shot a blistering 65 to take control of the tournament. The former world number one carded eight birdies, dropping just one shot as she overtook the seven players who’d started the day ahead of her.
She now sits top of the board at -14, two strokes clear of Nelly Korda in second, and three ahead of Allisen Corpuz and first-round leader Elizabeth Szokol who are in a tie for third at -11.
Overnight leader Danielle Kang is in solo fifth at -10, following up yesterday’s 63 with a level-par round of 72.
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