Leona Maguire has a top-five finish in the Marathon Classic firmly in her sights, after she posted a third round of 67 on Saturday.
Maguire has steadily improved throughout the week, after her first two efforts of 69 and 68 in Ohio.
She now sits on nine under par for the tournament and in a seven-way share of 15th place. The leaderboard is congested, and a strong final round could see her surge up the placings.
The 26-year-old looks to have too much to do to catch runaway leader Nasa Hataoka however, with the Japanese 22-year-old currently six strokes clear on 19 under par.
Elsewhere Colombia’s Sebastian Munoz fired a second straight four-under 67 to take a narrow lead after day three of the John Deere Classic in Illinois.
Munoz, the first round leader after birdying his last five holes on Thursday for an eight-under 63, had a mixed front nine of three birdies and two bogeys on Saturday, before three more birdies in an unblemished back nine.
At 16-under he led by a stroke from American Brandon Hagy, who mixed five birdies with a bogey in his 67.
Five more Americans were a further shot back at 14-under including Scott Brown, who took the day’s best round with a 63 including five birdies in six holes from the 10th to the 15th.
One more stroke back was a group of four players including overnight leader Luke List, who followed Friday’s 63 with an even 71.
Ireland’s Séamus Power was six shots off the lead after a three-under 68, Martin Laird of Scotland was eight off the pace at eight-under following a 69, while Tom Lewis was the best-placed Englishman after a 70 left him with a share of 48th place, 10 off the lead at six-under.
Collated third round scores in the LPGA Tour Marathon Classic, Highland Meadows Golf Club, Sylvania, Ohio, United States of America (USA unless stated, Par 71):
194 Nasa Hataoka (Jpn) 61 69 64
200 Elizabeth Szokol 67 66 67, Mina Harigae 66 66 68
201 Esther Henseleit (Ger) 70 64 67
202 Amy Yang (Kor) 67 70 65, Caroline Masson (Ger) 68 68 66, Austin Ernst 69 67 66, Yuka Saso (Phi) 71 67 64
203 Danielle Kang 70 65 68, Brittany Lincicome 67 69 67, Jennifer Kupcho 69 65 69, Thidapa Suwannapura (Tha) 68 67 68, Stacy Lewis 68 70 65, Gerina Piller 69 65 69
204 Ariya Jutanugarn (Tha) 66 69 69, Megan Khang 68 67 69, Su-Hyun Oh (Aus) 69 67 68, Matilda Castren (Fin) 66 69 69, Leona Maguire (Irl) 69 68 67, Lauren Stephenson 65 69 70, Ssu-Chia Cheng (Tai) 66 70 68
205 Brittany Altomare 69 68 68, Ind-Bee Park (Kor) 71 67 67, Chella Choi (Kor) 68 66 71, Perrine Delacour (Fra) 69 69 67, Jennifer Song 67 72 66, Andrea Lee 71 67 67
206 Celine Boutier (Fra) 71 71 64, Esther Lee 76 64 66, Alison Lee 67 66 73, Alana Uriell 70 66 70, Pannarat Thanapolboonyaras (Tha) 73 68 65
207 Carlota Ciganda (Spa) 70 71 66, Sarah Schmelzel 71 70 66, Linnea Stroem (Swe) 68 69 70, Sarah Burnham 70 70 67
208 Brooke Henderson (Can) 70 70 68, Bronte Law (Eng) 73 66 69, Melissa Reid (Eng) 69 72 67, Pornanong Phatlum (Tha) 69 70 69, Pajaree Anannarukarn (Tha) 69 69 70, Christina Kim 68 67 73, Yealimi Noh 66 73 69, Paula Reto (Rsa) 73 65 70, Nuria Iturrios (Spa) 75 67 66
209 Azahara Munoz (Spa) 69 70 70, Cheyenne Knight 69 71 69, Ana Belac (Slo) 69 70 70, Lee Lopez 70 68 71
210 Jessica Korda 70 69 71, Mi-Hyang Lee (Kor) 72 69 69, Mo Martin 70 70 70, Caroline Inglis 70 71 69, Cristie Kerr 68 72 70, Hae-Ji Kang (Kor) 71 71 68, Bianca Pagdanganan (Phi) 71 71 68, Elizabeth Nagel 69 73 68, Gemma Dryburgh (Sco) 70 69 71, Celine Palomar-Herbin (Fra) 72 66 72
211 Katherine Kirk (Aus) 71 71 69, Jennifer Coleman 71 69 71, Pavarisa Yoktuan (Tha) 73 66 72, Lauren Coughlin 68 72 71
212 Sarah Kemp (Aus) 70 72 70, Albane Valenzuela (Swi) 71 70 71, Jennifer Chang 72 70 70, Jeong-Eun Lee (Kor) 71 70 71, Kris Tamulis 72 67 73
213 Som-Yeon Ryu (Kor) 72 67 74, Jing Yan (Chn) 72 70 71, Mi-Rim Lee (Kor) 67 75 71, Lindy Duncan 70 71 72, Muni He (Chn) 70 67 76
214 A-Lim Kim (Kor) 68 69 77, Yu-Jeong Son (Kor) 72 70 72
215 Min Lee (Tai) 68 73 74
217 Jaye Marie Green 71 71 75, In-Kyung Kim (Kor) 72 69 76
218 Vicky Hurst 70 72 76
