Leona Maguire wasn’t able to make a significant move in her third round at the Ford Championship as she settled for a 71.
It leaves Maguire on five-under-par, thirteen shots behind Lilia Vu who looks set for a final day showdown with Charley Hull.
The Cavan star got off to a flying start with three birdies and a bogey in her first five holes before a birdie on the par-5 7th took her to seven-under-par.
Maguire dropped a shot on the ninth but after picking it back up with a birdie on the par-5 12th she finished poorly with bogeys on 14, 15 and 18 while she did birdie 17.
Vu finally made a bogey and then lost her lead Saturday. She responded with three straight birdies for a 4-under 68, giving her a two-shot lead over Hull of England going into the final round of the Ford Championship.
Vu began the tournament by going 41 holes without a bogey, a streak that ended on the sixth hole of Whirlwind Golf Club.
Far more damaging was the double bogey she took on the 14th hole, which dropped her into a tie for the lead when Hull made a left-to-right putt from 15 feet for birdie on the 16th.
That only sharpened Vu’s focus, particularly on the greens. She answered with a 40-foot birdie putt up a ridge on the 15th. She judged a wedge perfectly with the wind at her back and it rolled out to 2 feet on the 16th.
She made it three in a row with a beautiful lag putt from 40 feet just off the green at the par-5 17th to tap in for birdie. Vu finished at 18-under 198.
Hull, who opened the tournament with a 63, holed a 12-foot birdie putt on the 18th for a 68 to get within two shots and land a spot in the final group with Vu on Sunday.
But this is far from a two-player race.
Seven other players were within four shots of the lead, all of them handling the strong wind and firm greens that require players to hit their spots on bouncy greens for birdie chances.
Missing from those in the mix was Nelly Korda, the defending champion. The No. 1 player in the women’s world ranking, Korda was within one shot of the lead until she went nowhere on the back nine, failing to birdie the par 5s and making two bogeys.
Korda shot 73, and along with being seven shots behind, she has 18 players in front of her.
Vu felt as though she sorted out her swing, hitting the ball the best she has all week. It was a matter of judging the distance and the bounce and the wind, and that was difficult.
“I was telling my caddie, ‘I just can’t get the numbers right today.’ And he just said to me, ‘I’m just going to get you on the green and then you can just try and make the putt from there.’ And that’s what we were doing,” Vu said.
Ayaka Furue of Japan (67) and Nanna Koertz Madsen of Denmark (69) were three shots behind, followed by followed by a group at 14-under 202 that include Jeeno Thitikul (70), the No. 2 player in the world, Yahui Zhang of China and former U.S. Women’s Open champion Allisen Corpuz (67).
Zhang had the low round of a windy day at 65, which included a bogey on her final hole.
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