Leona Maguire birdied three of her final 5 holes to share nineteenth place heading into the ultimate spherical of the Buick LPGA Shanghai occasion in China.
The Co Cavan participant was one-over for the day with 5 holes to play earlier than she birdied the 14th, seventeenth and 18th at Qizhong Backyard Golf Membership in a 31-putt spherical.
Japan’s Mao Saigo shot a seven-under-par 65 to guide by a shot from China’s Ruoning Yin on 17-under.
Maguire, who has been working laborious to enhance her placing this 12 months after falling down the rankings from first for putts per spherical in 2020 to 63rd this 12 months, lies forty ninth within the Race to CME Globe standings.
She had been anticipated to play within the Aramco Group Collection – Riyadh occasion in Saudi Arabia on the finish of this month however has opted as an alternative to focus on enhancing her LPGA rating.
The LPGA writes:
Rookie Saigo got here into the spherical tied for second however was only one stroke again of the chief.
She began to seek out her groove early, recording back-to-back birdies on Nos. 3 and 4 earlier than a string of pars took her into the flip 13-under and tied for the lead.
Whereas Saigo was enjoying gradual and regular, hometown favourite Ruoning Yin placed on a present for the Chinese language crowd that got here to see her going bogey-free on the entrance 9 with 4 birdies to take her from 9-under to start out her day to proper within the combine at 12-under.
Two teams forward of Saigo, Yin discovered the momentum she wanted to take her excessive carding three-straight birdies on Nos. 12, 13 and 14 to affix the leaders on the prime.
To not be outdone by Yin, Saigo added one other pair of birdies on Nos. 12 and 13 and the 2 discovered themselves tied at 15-under coming down the stretch.
Yin would strike first recording her first eagle of the week on No. 17 to take the outright lead.
Yin had a chance to develop her lead much more and tie the 18-hole scoring report set earlier this week by Sei Younger Kim, however missed her birdie putt on No. 18 and settled for a par and a 9-under spherical.
After Yin completed, Saigo discovered herself only one again of the three-time Tour winner.
On the identical gap that Yin took her lead, Saigo matched her vitality and recorded an eagle of her personal to leapfrog Yin and take the outright solo-lead for the primary time in her profession heading into Sunday.
“I feel tomorrow I am enjoying as a chaser, and I feel simply I’ve a little bit purpose for myself on daily basis, and I feel if I can full my purpose I am blissful about regardless of the result’s,” Yin mentioned about enjoying towards Saigo in Sunday’s championship spherical.
The 18-hole and 36-hole chief Kim has simmered down since her scorching scorching day one.
After recording 9 birdies in her first spherical, she has simply seven via her final 36-holes.
Kim finds herself in solo-third nonetheless inside putting distance of Saigo and Yin and can look to show up the warmth on these two throughout Sunday’s spherical. 2021 U.S. Solheim Cup workforce member Yealimi Noh is within the hunt for her fourth top-10 end of the 2024 season after ending her third spherical in solo-fourth.
Noh went bogey-free, her second bogey-free spherical of the week, with 4 birdies.
Six gamers spherical out the top-10 all tied for fifth together with CLPGA Tour gamers Yanhong Pan and Haruka Morita, six-time LPGA Tour winner Nasa Hataoka, three-time Tour winner Jeeno Thitikul, subsequent week’s defending champion Minjee Lee and 2023 Tour rookie Lucy Li.
Defending champion Angel Yin could have a bit extra work to do to try to repeat as winner discovering herself T19 at 6-under after a 1-over third spherical.
