Leona Maguire birdied the last to climb to level-par as she looks for a big Sunday finish to grab as much of the $11m prize purse as she can to end the season.
Maguire sits fifteen shots off the pace after an uneventful third round of 71 that included birdies on the eighth and eighteenth and just one bogey on the seventeenth.
Jeeno Thitikul and Angel Yin are tied for first at 15-under going into Sunday at Tiburón Golf Club. Thitikul carded a stellar round to move up the leaderboard and into a tie with 36-hole leader Yin, who recorded another round in the 60s to keep her name in the conversation for the record $4 million winner’s prize.
Thitikul opened her round with a birdie on the par-5 1st hole and picked up two more birdies on holes 5 and 8 on the front nine to make the turn at three-under. Bogey-free since her 11th hole in round one, she continued her streak through the back nine. Thitikul fired off three birdies on 10, 11 and 12 to reach 6-under for the day.
She made four more pars in over her next holes before finishing her round with an eagle and birdie on 17 and 18, respectively, to card a nine-under 63, the lowest round of the week thus far.
“I know I’ve been in contention for a while. I think since FM (Championship) until now. I think all that I have done for the past, I think I going to the right direction to one day I can lift the trophy or it’s going to be tomorrow or not,” said Thitikul, who is in the lead/co-lead for the third time this season heading into the final round.
“But I’m proud of what I have did. Because like Maybank, I just did the best I can do but (Ruoning Yin) just did really, really good job out there. Tomorrow it’s just depend on the — I just still believe that if it’s your turn, then it’s your turn. It’s just depend on the matter of time, and I also give it all, 100 percent every day being out there on the course. Whatever it’s going to happen tomorrow, I take it as a learning experience. It’s not about life or death. It’s just what we play, and then we just trying to improve yourself.”
Yin continued her consistent play this week with a third-round 67 that included an eagle, five birdies and two bogeys. Her Saturday round started slow, with pars on her first four holes, until she made a birdie on 5 and an eagle on 6 to jump to 13-under for the tournament.
She made her first bogey of the day on the seventh before making back-to-back birdies on eight and nine. She added two more birdies on the back nine, on the par-3 12th and par-5 17th holes, and recorded her second bogey of the day on the 15th.
“Felt good. The course, honestly, I think is playing pretty tough, so happy with my score,” Yin said “I’m scoring still. Making some mistakes, but saving a bunch, so a lot of positives.”