Leona Maguire opened her 2026 LPGA Tour account with a five-under-par 67 on Thursday, and she matched that number on Saturday to make a move up the leaderboard at the LPGA Thailand in Bangkok.
The Cavan woman, starting her third round on the back nine after a frustrating level-par round on Friday saw her slide down the leaderboard, birdied the 14th and 15th and carded seven pars to make the turn at -2.
The highlight of the day came on the first where an eagle-three sent her shooting upwards, but her joy was short-lived as a bogey on the next – her only dropped shot of the day – halted her momentum.
She got back on the birdie trail with a ‘two’ on the par-3 fourth, then added another on the par-5 seventh to move to -10 overall and into a share of 22nd place, three shots back of Hye-Jin Choi who is in sole possession of 10th place.
At the top of the leaderboard, world No. 1 Jeeno Thitikul birdied her final three holes for a six-under 66 and a two-stroke lead going into the final round of her home tournament.
Thitikul made a 15-foot birdie putt on the par-3 16th to break away from a four-way tie for the lead, then saw her eagle chip just slide past the hole on 18 before tapping in for a birdie, giving her a 54-hole total of 20-under at Siam Country Club’s Old Course.
“I try to keep everything on track,” said the seven-time LPGA Tour winner. “The driver has been really good the past few days and that’s given me confidence. My irons have been better than I expected, and I’ve been rolling the putts well these past three days.”
In second place is Hyo Joo Kim after a 65, while Allisen Corpuz (67), second-round leader Somi Lee (72) and Chizzy Iwai (68) are tied for third, three strokes behind Thitikul.
“I’m in a position where I have to chase, but that allows me to be more aggressive,” Kim said. “I made a few mistakes today, so tomorrow I just want to attack and hopefully finish first.”
Lydia Ko shot 69 to move into sixth place, four strokes behind.
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