Maguire takes share of lead at LPGA TC

MIAMI: Ireland’s Leona Maguire produced a blistering nine-under par 63 to hold a share of the lead with Lydia Ko after Saturday’s (Sunday in Manila) third round of the LPGA Tour Championship.

Maguire and Ko are both 15-under 201 for the tournament in Naples, Florida, and enjoy a five stroke lead over South Korea’s Lee6 Jeong-eun and Scotland’s Gemma Dryburgh.

The leading pair will go head-to-head on Sunday at Tiburon Golf Club with a tour-record $2 million top prize at stake and the momentum appears to be with the 27-year-old Maguire.

New Zealand’s Ko held a five-stroke lead overnight but made a shaky start with a bogey on the par-4 second and another on the par-3 fifth.

Maguire, in contrast, was straight out of the blocks with a birdie on the first and the third holes and she reached the turn four-under for her round.

She had a run of four straight birdies either side of the turn as she flew up the leaderboard.

On the 17th, the Irishwoman found a greenside bunker, but responded to the test well with a fine shot from the sand giving her a simple putt for birdie and the outright lead.

Ko also flirted with trouble on the penultimate hole, driving deep into rough from the tee but then recovered well to make a birdie and regain a share of the lead.

The weather forecast for Sunday suggests the winds could get blustery with some rain also forecast.