Leona continues to scale packed leadboard at Chevron Championship
Leona Maguire. Photo by Douglas P. DeFelice/Getty Images
Leona Maguire stretched her bogey-free run to 30 holes and inched her way into the top 30 heading into the final round of the $5.1 million Chevron Championship in Texas.
After scraping through the cut line with a gutsy 69 on Friday, the world number 15 added a bogey-free, two-under 70 in Saturday's third round top share 29th at The Club at Carlton Woods in The Woodlands.
She's nine strokes behind American duo Allisen Corpuz and Angel Yin, who lead Amy Yang, Switzerland's Albane Valenzuela and Megan Khang by a shot on 10-under par heading into the final round.
But she's now within striking distance of a top-15 finish having found herself tied for 112th on five-over with eight holes to play in round two.
Stephanie Meadow missed the cut by one stroke on two-over despite playing the last 10 holes of her second round 69 in five-under.
The Jordanstown star birdied the last two holes when she returned to the course on Saturday to complete her delayed second round but missed out by the minimum.
At the top of the leaderboard, Corpuz and Yin shot 67s to lead on 10-under, but 16 players are within five strokes of the lead.
"Obviously, there's a lot of really good players out there, and just keep reminding myself that at my best, I'm just as good as them," said Corpuz (25), who is looking for her maiden win on her Chevron debut. "Yeah, that's what I've been telling myself."
Just six months younger than Corpuz, Yin is also looking to make her first win a Major after grabbing her first 54-hole lead in her 147th start.
Three more players looking for their first major title are tied for third under nine-under, including Korean Amy Yang, who has 19 top-10 finishes in her major career.
"I'm out here to win a major, and getting close a lot of times and not being able to get one is just mentally tough," said Yang, who shot a tournament-low seven-under 65 on Saturday. "But not much I can do except just do my best each day."
She sits alongside Switzerland's Valenzuela and American Khang in the tie for third, one stroke behind Corpuz and Yin.
The stacked leaderboard continues with four players tied for sixth at eight-under — major champions A Lim Kim, Hyo Joo Kim and Nelly Korda, along with second-year LPGA Tour player Hye-Jin Choi.
Atthaya Thitikul rounds out the top 10 alone at seven-under.
"Honestly, the pressure is on for all of us," Khang said. "I didn't take a big look at the leaderboard, but it looks to be a pretty crowded leaderboard up there.
“And on this golf course, anything can happen, whether if the wind picks up or they move some tees forward or back.
"It's definitely going to be interesting, and that's what majors call for."
