Leona Maguire’s second successive round of 68 leaves her tied for 25th heading into the fourth and final round of the LPGA’s Maybank Championship in Kuala Lumpur.
The Cavan woman had found herself closer to the foot of the leaderboard after opening with a one-over 73 on Thursday in the Malaysian capital, but improved by five strokes on day two and then had a repeat of that score on moving day, but she’ll be a little disappointed not to be a couple of strokes better off.
Starting on the back nine, she came roaring out of the traps on day three, making birdies on both of her opening two holes and then adding two more on 14 and 17 to get to -4, and a par at the par-5 18th saw her turn in 32 and at -7 for the week.
With another two par-5s to come on the front side of the course – the side she’s played best this week – she’d have had designs on reaching double-digits under-par by the end of the day. Another birdie on the fourth kept her on course, but a bogey at seven and pars either side saw her reach the clubhouse at seven-under and nine off the lead.
That’s held by the trio of Ruoning Yin, Jeeno Thitikul and Haeran Ryu, who each made their way to a -16 tally with different scores on the day. It was Thailand native Thitikul who shot the lowest of the three, making six birdies and an eagle on her way to a 64, while Yin and Ryu shot rounds of 66 and 67 respectively.
World number four Yin is looking for her second win in three starts having won in her native Shanghai a fortnight ago and would overtake Lydia Ko in third in the Rolex World Rankings should she find herself on top of the leaderboard come Sunday evening.
The trio will be able to keep an eye on each other as they all play together in a threeball final grouping, with Swede Maja Stark at -14, and Celine Boutier and Marina Alex who are both at -12 forming the penultimate group.
It’ll be an interesting dynamic for close friends Yin and Thitikul, but the Chinese is expecting their competitive natures to see the friendship sidelined for the afternoon.
“I think we’re besties, but on the course of course we both want to win and we’re both competitive. I think tomorrow is going to be fun,” she said.
Leave a comment