Amateur Olivia Mehaffey carded a one-under 71 to go into the final round just two strokes behind China’s Ruixin Liu in the inaugural Carlisle Arizona Women’s Golf Classic.

Liu posted a bogey-free, five-under 67 to lead by a shot on 14-under from Spain’s Fatima Fernandez (66) with Mehaffey tied for third on 12-under with Celine Herbin (69) after she made five birdies, two bogeys and a double-bogey six at Longbow Golf Club.

Scores

The Arizona State University star followed a birdie at the first with a double-bogey six at the second but after following another birdie at the fifth with back to back bogeys at the eighth and ninth to turn in two-over, she rallied on the back nine.

A hat-trick of birdies from the 13th saw her rally to finish the day in the red and remain in contention.

She has work to do to catch the leader, Liu, who is seeking her fourth win on the second tier tour.

“My dad has been with me for every win on the Symetra Tour,” said Liu. “It’s really nice to have him here and I really trust him. It’s comfortable to have him out here with me.”  

Fernandez Cano, who was one of five players on the Road to the LPGA to earn their LPGA Card for 2021, shot a bogey-free six-under par 66 on Saturday to move within a shot of the lead.

“I know I am playing very solid golf,” she said. “This course kind of fits me, I think I only missed one green today and I almost chipped in.

“I didn’t quite take advantage of the par-5’s today like I’ve been doing this week so hopefully I can do that tomorrow.” 

She broke through for her first win at the IOA Championship presented by Morongo Casino Resort & Spa last year and despite testing positive for coronavirus twice and being forced to miss two event, she worked her way into the top five courtesy of six top-15 performances in eight starts. 

World amateur No 1 Rose Zhang is solo fifth in-under after a 66 with University of New Mexico alumna Ingrid Gutierrez Nunez sixth after she fired the low round of the day, a bogey-free eight-under-par 64.