NAPLES, Florida: Lydia Ko is one round away from clinching LPGA player of the year and taking home the largest prize in the history of women’s golf.
Leona Maguire showed Saturday that it won’t be easy. Maguire had four straight birdies around the turn, added a pair of birdies late and had a 9-under 63, allowing her to make up a seven-shot deficit and tie Ko going into the final day of the CME Group Tour Championship. “The hole was looking big, and I was trying to hit it as close as I could,” Maguire said.
Ko had a five-shot lead to start the third round — seven shots ahead of Maguire — and made a mixture of birdies and bogeys that stalled her round.
She fell one shot behind Maguire until chipping to tap-in range on the par-5 17th. She finished with a 70. Maguire is too far back to win player of the year.