Leona trailing, Rahm leading, Clarke second as Irish chase Legends

Leona Maguire

Leona Maguire fell 11 strokes behind Canada’s Brooke Henderson heading into the final round of the Hilton Grand Vacations. Tournament of Champions at Lake Nona.

The Co Cavan star shot a one-over 73 to share 16th on three-under as Henderson’s 69 gave her a three-shot lead over Japan’s Nasa Hataoka (66) and Nelly Korda (68) on 14-under.

On the PGA Tour, Jon Rahm hit 17 of 18 greens in regulation and carded a seven-under 65 on the Pete Dye Stadium Course to remain on track for his fourth win in six worldwide starts in The American Express at La Quinta.

Looking to move from fourth to third in the world, Rahm shares the 54-hole lead with 2021 Walker Cup player Davis Thompson on 23-under par, four shots clear of JT Poston and Christiaan Bezuidenhout.

Meanwhile, Steve Stricker earned his 12th PGA TOUR Champions title on Saturday at the Mitsubishi Electric Championship at Hualalai, carding a seven under 65 to win by six strokes from Steven Alker, Mike Weir, Ken Tanigawa and Darren Clarke (68) on 23-under.

Stricker began the final round at Hualalai with a two-stroke lead over Alex Cejka and made three birdies in his first four holes, added birdies on the 10th and 13th before shutting the door with an eagle at the par-5 14th.

“It was a lot of fun,” said Stricker. “To win here, I didn’t know what kind of game I had coming into this week, but it was pretty good.”

At the Final Stage of the Legends Tour Qualifying School in Turkey, Damian Mooney is the best of the Irish, four shots outside the top five at halfway.

The Lough Erne professional made six birdies in a rollercoaster 72 on the Old Course at Gloria Golf Resort to sit one-under in the race for five cards.

Brendan McGovern (76) and David Higgins (73) were two-over with Joe Lyons (73) six over.