Maguire sits nine adrift at Chevron Championship

A two-under par round of 70 sees Leona Maguire nine shots off the lead heading into the final round of the Chevron Championship in Texas.

The Cavan woman, who had started the first major of the season with a sluggish 76, found birdies at the eighth and 12th and is tied for 29th, with Allisen Corpuz and Angely Yin leading the way on 10-under par.

FULL LEADERBOARD

The American pair charged up the leaderboard after near-flawless performances on Saturday.

Corpuz carded a five-under par 67 after she birdied on four of the first five holes at the Club at Carlton Woods near Houston, but was forced to share the lead after a missed putt saw her settle for par on the final hole.

Six birdies and a bogey on the par-5 four saw Yin (67) equal the effort, though a bit of good old fashioned luck helped, as her tee shot on 12 inexplicably bounced off the water hazard and onto the bank.

"Extremely shocked," said Yin, 24. "I thought I was going to get the card for that."

Neither of the two players has won on the LPGA tour before and both are hoping to hoist their maiden major title on Sunday.

South Korean Amy Yang put herself in a strong position when she carded a seven-under-par 65, sharing a three-way tie for third with American Megan Khang (70) and Switzerland's Albane Valenzuela (68), who drained a long putt for a birdie on the final hole.

Yang has 19 top-10 finishes in the majors and reminded the field at the first women's major of the year why she is a perennial contender as she produced five birdies on the front nine and only a single bogey on the par-4 11.

"It was one of those days -- everything felt so easy and everything felt in sync," she said in a televised interview. "I just did my best out there, (was) patient and just had fun."

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