Leona Maguire falls back at Ford Championship

Spain's Carlota Ciganda shot a 6-under par 66 on Saturday to grab a share of a three-way tie at the top of the leaderboard at the LPGA's Ford Championship in Gilbert, Arizona.

Joining Ciganda at the top are Hyo Joo Kim of South Korea, who shot a three-under 69, and Sarah Schmelzel (two-under 70) on a windy day in the desert.

All three sit at 15-under heading into Sunday's final round at Seville Golf and Country Club.

Ciganda, a two-time winner on the Tour, caught fire at the end of her round to make her climb.

Starting the tournament outside of the top 100 in the Race to CME Globe standings, Ciganda sat at 3 under through the first 12 holes on Saturday, thanks to an eagle on the par-5 fifth and a birdie at the par-4 seventh.

Then she closed with two birdies and an eagle over the final six holes – with a bogey 4 on the par-3 14th her only blemish.

Leona Maguire could not build on her excellent second round, shooting a 71 to drop into a share of 35th.

"Very happy with the six-under today," Ciganda said.

"The wind is really strong. Lots of side winds, and it's just, yeah, it's just hard. I think if you can hit greens (those are) good shots. There are some holes that are playing downhill and you can take advantage, as well as the par 5s."

Schmelzel may be the only member of the trio at the top of the standings yet to win on Tour, but her game has been surging of late.

The 29-year-old finished in the top eight in each of her previous three events before the Ford, including a career-best second-place showing at the Blue Bay LPGA in the first weekend in March.

"It was a grind. It was definitely a grind," said Schmelzel, an Arizona native." It's so tough putting in those conditions when it's so blustery.

"You just have to add an element