Taiwan’s Min Lee was on the cusp of winning her first LPGA tournament after taking a two-stroke lead through the third round of the LPGA Mediheal Championship, as Leona Maguire dropped off the pace in California.
Having started the tournament with a fine round of 65, Maguire posted a second round of 73 on Friday and followed that with a 74 on Saturday to lie five shots off the lead.
She made three birdies, an eagle, two bogeys, a double bogey and a triple bogey eight in a rollercoaster third round. She now stands on four under par overall and shares 11th place.
Meanwhile 26-year-old leader Lee mixed five birdies with a bogey on the par-five fifth hole to finish with a four-under 68 to be nine-under overall.
Two strokes back were Finland’s Matilda Castren and American Lauren Kim.
England’s Charley Hull was seven strokes off the pace after double-bogeying the par-four second hole en route to a one-over 73.
Her countrywomen Georgia Hall and Jodi Ewart Shadoff were a further three shots back while Scot Gemma Dryburgh trailed Lee by 17.
Collated third round scores & totals in the LPGA MEDIHEAL Championship (USA unless stated, Par 72):
207 Min Lee (Tai) 70 69 68
209 Matilda Castren (Fin) 71 69 69, Lauren Kim 69 69 71
210 A Lim Kim (Kor) 72 69 69, Albane Valenzuela (Swi) 68 74 68
211 Danielle Kang 71 66 74, Jennifer Kupcho 69 72 70, Jenny Shin (Kor) 72 69 70, Jennifer Coleman 71 69 71, Lindsey Weaver 73 69 69
212 Lucy Lie 71 71 70, Lydia Ko (Nzl) 72 70 70, Ashleigh Buhai (Rsa) 71 71 70, Paphangkorn Tavatanakit (Tha) 70 71 71, Leona Maguire (Irl) 65 73 74, Yealimi Noh 72 69 71
213 Alexis Thompson 71 72 70, Som-Yeon Ryu (Kor) 73 73 67, Angel Yin 72 69 72, Jane Park 69 71 73, Mina Harigae 73 71 69, Min-Seo Kwak (Kor) 71 71 71
214 Da-Yeon Lee (Kor) 69 72 73, Hannah Green (Aus) 72 71 71, 214 Charley Hull (Eng) 73 68 73, Inbee Park (Kor) 69 75 70, Thidapa Suwannapura (Tha) 66 76 72, Annie Park 72 70 72, Cydney Clanton 75 71 68, Ryann O’Toole 73 71 70, Alison Lee 68 72 74
215 Shanshan Feng (Chn) 73 70 72, Yu Liu (Chn) 72 69 74, Su-Hyun Oh (Aus) 71 70 74, Nanna Koerstz Madsen (Den) 74 69 72
216 Sei-Young Kim (Kor) 73 74 69, Sarah Schmelzel 74 69 73, Emma Talley 71 75 70
217 Hyo-Joo Kim (Kor) 71 74 72, Celine Boutier (Fra) 72 75 70, Nicole Broch Larsen (Den) 72 71 74, Georgia Hall (Eng) 77 70 70, Wei Ling Hsu (Tai) 74 69 74, Jodi Ewart (Eng) 74 70 73, Ayako Uehara (Jpn) 75 73 69, Michelle Wie 73 75 69, Lauren Stephenson 70 71 76, Jeong-Eun Lee (Kor) 71 73 73, Lindy Duncan 72 70 75
218 Min-Jee Lee (Aus) 73 69 76, Alena Sharp (Can) 75 69 74, Sarah Jane Smith (Aus) 73 73 72, Xiyu Lin (Chn) 73 73 72, Hee-Young Park (Kor) 76 71 71, Hae-Ji Kang (Kor) 73 71 74, Dana Finkelstein 72 72 74
219 Brittany Lincicome 76 72 71, Azahara Munoz (Spa) 75 73 71, Harukyo Nomura (Jpn) 78 68 73, Esther Henseleit (Ger) 77 70 72, Linnea Johansson (Swe) 73 72 74
220 Katherine Kirk (Aus) 75 72 73, Kristy McPherson 75 73 72, Janie Jackson 76 71 73, Kendall Dye 72 72 76
221 Jing Yan (Chn) 71 72 78, Wichanee Meechai (Tha) 72 76 73, Jennifer Song 74 73 74, Giulia Molinaro (Ita) 76 72 73, Ana Belac (Slo) 72 75 74, Kelly Tan (Mal) 75 73 73, Bianca Pagdanganan (Phi) 71 73 77
222 Klara Spilkova (Cze) 71 76 75, Kyung Kim 72 76 74
223 Mariajo Uribe (Col) 69 76 78
224 Pornanong Phatlum (Tha) 72 73 79, Gemma Dryburgh (Sco) 73 74 77
226 Jacqui Concolino 75 72 79
