Ashok half a dozen clear heading into final day

Aditi Ashok extended her lead at the Magical Kenya Ladies Open firing a bogey-free round of 69 to hold a six-shot lead heading into the final day.

Olivia Mehaffey carded a third-round 76 to join French woman Agathe Laisne in a tie for 50th on 11-over par.

A double-bogey on 11 was the lowlight of the Down woman's round. Level par through the front nine, that blemish at 11 was compounded on the back nine by three bogeys, with birdies at the 15th and the last meaning she will start the final round on 11-over par.

She is 24 shots adrift of Ashok after her four-under par round.

On the third day of action at Vipingo Ridge, the two-time Olympian had a steady start before rolling in back-to-back birdies on the fifth and six holes.

It wasn’t long before the Indian star made another birdie on the eighth hole, and she made her final one on 12 to have a total of 13-under-par and extend her advantage at the top of the leaderboard.

"It was really good," said Ashok. "The first couple of holes, I was actually looking at bogeys. I almost hit out of bounds on the first hole, but after that my round was more steady and bogey-free is always a positive.

"I think when the wind is up sometimes you hole putts but sometimes you don’t, so you have to make sure you’re always hitting the greens and taking the big numbers out of play. Then you’re always there looking at birdie even if you don’t make it."

Ashok, who was runner-up at Vipingo Ridge in 2019, is looking for her fourth victory on the LET and it would be her first since she triumphed at the 2017 Fatima Bint Mubarak Ladies Open.