Leona Maguire loses further ground on leaders in Florida

A third round 71 saw Leona Maguire move to level par at the season-ending CME Group Tour Championship in Florida where she will begin the final round 15 shots off the lead.

LEADERBOARD

The Cavan native, who finished runner-up at the tournament in 2022 when the winning purse was a then-record $2m, slumped to a 76 on Friday to slide down the leaderboard and lost even further ground on Angel Yin who leads on 15-under par alongside Jeeno Thitkul of Thailand.

She picked up a birdie at the eighth, but never found any real momentum on the back nine, reeling off seven successive pars before dropping a shot at the par-5 17th.

The 29-year-old finished on a positive note with a birdie at the last to move to level par and a tie for 49th.

Midway leader Yin posted a 67 which sees her in a share of the lead after a blistering nine-under par 63.

A birdie at the first set the tone and she picked up two further shots before the turn where 21-year-old turned on the afterburners with four birdies and an eagle at the 17th.

The pair enjoy a three-shot advantage over Ruoning Yin of China.