Leona Maguire looks set to battle it out for the minor placings in the Chevron Championship after a third-round, three-over 75 leaves her tied for 64th going into the final round.
Starting on the 10th having made the cut on the number, she bogeyed two of her opening nine and then dropped another shot on the second – her 11th – before finally opening her birdie account on three. Further bogeys on five and nine with a birdie on eight dropped her to +5 for the week, with level-par currently tied for 31st.
Haeran Ryu capped a front-nine run with a chip-in birdie on the ninth hole, then held on in tricky wind conditions on Saturday for a share of the third-round lead with Mao Saigo.
On a gusty, sunny day at The Club at Carlton Woods in the first women’s major tournament of the year, Ryu parred the final nine holes for a 4-under 68. Saigo followed with a 69 to match Ryu at 9-under 207.
“The back nine was so challenging for me because the wind became a little stronger and the pin positions were so tough,” Ryu said. “My putter — almost in the hole but always going next to the hole and then making some easy pars. But, yes, it was so hard today.”
Ryu opened with a 65 on Thursday for a share of the lead with Yan Liu, then shot a 74 to fall two strokes back. On Saturday, after a bogey on the third hole, she birdied No. 4 and ran off four straight on Nos. 6-9. The 24-year-old South Korean player has two LPGA Tour victories.
Saigo is winless on the LPGA Tour. The 23-year-old Japanese player was the tour’s rookie of the year last season.
“I just need to focus on my golf game, one shot at a time,” Saigo said. “And not only the golf game, but also try to control my mental state, too.”
Saigo parred the last five holes after chipping in for a birdie on the par-5 13th to reach 9 under. She also chipped in for a birdie on No. 6.
“The course conditions were pretty tough today, so it was quite difficult to make birdies, and I struggled a bit,” Saigo said. “Two of them were chip-in birdies from outside, so I was quite fortunate.”
Lindy Duncan was a stroke back after a 70. Fellow American Sarah Schmelzel had a 71 to join Liu (72) at 7 under.
“This is the biggest stage for us,” said Duncan, seeking her first LPGA Tour victory at age 34. “The toughest courses, the toughest tests, and the most pressure, so yes, you just have to go out there and play your game.”
Liu, the Chinese player who took a one-shot lead into the weekend, dropped out of a three-way tie for the lead with a double bogey on the par-3 17th.
Playing into the wind on the 144-yard hole, she hit short into a bunker, then left her second shot in an awkward position in thick rough above the bunker. She chipped 20 feet past and two-putted.
Lexi Thompson topped the group at 6 under after a 70. The 30-year-old Florida player retired from full-time play at the end of last season. She won the 2014 event — then the Kraft Nabisco Championship — at Mission Hills in Rancho Mirage, California.
“I’m looking forward to tomorrow and seeing what I can achieve,” Thompson said.
Top-ranked Nelly Korda was tied for 31st at even par in her title defence. She had consecutive double bogeys on her second nine in a 71. Winless this season, she won last year for the last of her record-equalling five straight victories.
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