Maguire looking for a miracle as she falls eight behind at Dromoland
HARD YARDS: Ireland’s Leona Maguire walks down the 10th with her Caddy Dermot Byrne at the 2023 KPMG Women's Irish Open in Dromoland Castle, Clare on Saturday. Pic: INPHO/Ben Brady
Leona Maguire needs to shoot the lights out to end a 17-year wait for a home winner after a closing bogey six left herself eight shots behind leader Ann Van Dam in the KPMG Women's Irish Open at a sun-splashed Dromoland Castle.
The tournament favourite went into the third round six shots off the pace but she didn’t have her A-game and while she mixed some early par saves with birdies at the seventh, 11th, 15th and 16th, she took four to get down from 100 yards at the par-five 18th and dropped a shot.
A three-under 69 that left the Solheim Cup star tied for 15th on seven-under and with big-hitting Dutch star Van Dam firing a six-under 66 for a three-shot lead over Sweden's Lisa Pettersson on 15-under as she bids for her first win since 2019, world number 17 likely needs to a round in the mid-sixties at worst on Sunday to have a chance.
"I didn't have my A-game at all today," a disappointed Maguire said after spinning her approach off the green and missing a four-footer for par at the last. "I made a lot of good saves, a lot of good up-and-downs to keep me in it. It's just one of those weeks. It's all just been a bit off this week. I hung in as well as I can. I'll just try and go a bit better tomorrow… I'm trying my best here, so I'll give it one more day."
Chasing is not easy at Dromoland Castle but with the course playing far more than its 6,100 yards due to the soft conditions, Van Dam has a big advantage.
"It doesn't take much for it to go one way or another," Maguire said when asked if she had a low one in her as she did last year, when she rallied with a 65 to finish just a shot outside a playoff. "I think you have to take your chances where you get them and give yourself a few more chances. So I have one more day to do that tomorrow."
She certainly won't lack support with large crowds expected at the Co Clare venue and after the Czech Republic’s Sara Kouskov shot 64 to move up to tied fifth on 10-under, an eight-under round is certainly possible.
"Yeah, it was great," Maguire said of the large galleries lining the fairways. "It seemed like from the sixth or seventh hole onwards, it built as the day went on, which was great. Nice to see so many people out enjoying women's golf and experiencing it for themselves."
Banbridge's Olivia Mehaffey is the next best of the Irish, tied for 30th on four-under after a 72. At 63rd in the Race to the Costa del Sol rankings, the former Curtis Cup star is close to securing a top-70 end-of-season ranking that would give her full playing rights for 2024.
She has publicly spoken about her mental health challenges and while she played the last four holes in a disappointing one-over, she's hoping to build her confidence in the final round and finish the season strongly.
"I'm not putting any pressure on myself," Mehaffey said. "I need to finish in a certain place tomorrow to do that. So I think I just really want to work my way up the leaderboard tomorrow.
"There's a reshuffle happening next week. So I think I'm going to get into pretty much everything for the rest of the year. So that's nice as well. It's not like after this week, I am only going to play two more events. I have a pretty full schedule until November."
She added: "I think confidence is probably the biggest thing for me. I feel like I lost a lot of confidence. I think gaining confidence for the rest of the season is probably the biggest thing from this.”
Van Dam doesn’t have full playing rights this season but she knows she has a huge opportunity to end her four-year drought. She has been working hard on her mental game and is planning to stick to the same game plan tomorrow as she aims to secure her first LET title since 2019.
“I have been working so hard mentally, you have to let everything in the past go. I have been really good with that and I’m proving myself every day and I’m very excited for a new day tomorrow," Van Dam explained.
“I love the feeling of playing under pressure, it can do great things with you, and it can do bad things to you, and I’ve experienced both. I’m very excited for that challenge and excited to get out there and do my thing tomorrow.
“If you want to win a tournament you have to play well and you have to play extremely well, I’ve learnt that as well. It’s not going to be given to you.
"I just have to stick to my game, be aggressive with my driver and put wedges in my hand and attack where I can. That’s going to be my game plan again for tomorrow.”
As for the rest of the Irish, AIG Irish Close champion Sara Byrne from Douglas birdied two of her last four holes and shot 72 to share 42nd on two-under with Kirkistown Castle's Beth Coulter, who carded a 69.
Hermitage’s Kate Lanigan was six over for the day through 14 holes but birdied the last four to card a 74 that left her tied 51st on one-under.
Elm Park teenager Emma Fleming is tied 68th on five-over after a 76.
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