Maguire and Kupcho keep victory hopes alive after late birdies
Leona Maguire and Jennifer Kupcho birdied the last two holes to keep the leaders in their sights heading into the final round of the Dow Championship in Michigan.
Leading by one stroke overnight, they were four over for the day with two holes to play when Kupcho made birdie putts on the last two greens.
Their two-over 72 left them tied for fourth on 11 under, just two strokes behind Sarah Schmelzel and Albane Valenzuela.
The US-Switzerland duo shot a 68 in the day three foursomes to lead by one stroke on 12 under from Belgium’s Manon de Roey and France’s Pauline Rossin-Bouchard and Koreans Jin Hee Im and Somi Lee at Midland Country Club.
“I think they were huge,” Maguire said of their two closing birdies. “I think it gives us a chance going into tomorrow.
“Just really got nothing going today, but we tried to stay patient and keep giving ourselves chances; we eventually did on the last holes. Jen holed two great putts.”
Playing under the team and the Irish Goodbyes, Maguire and Kupcho bogeyed the first, eighth, ninth and 16th before their late birdie brace left them in a three-way tie for fourth.
“There wasn't a whole lot of talk between each other,” Kupcho confessed. “Myself personally, I just was leaving a couple of putts short.
“I hit a couple of good shots that really just ended up in bad spots. So I just told myself it was a good swing. Just move on.
“That's pretty much what we did. I feel like we took it how was it and kept fighting.”
Despite their struggles, they know they still have a chance in the fourball betterball format after carding a ten under 60 to take the lead on Friday.
“Just try and go low and try and post a number early and see what happens,” Maguire said of their Sunday game plan. “I think it was nice to see two putts go in at the end.”
At the Amundi German Masters on the Ladies European Tour, Malaysia’s Shannon Tan carded a five-under 68 to lead by three shots from England’s Hannah Screen on 12 under.
Anna Foster made five birdies in a level par 73 to share 13th on two under, while Lauren Walsh was 29th on one over after a 76.
On the DP World Tour, Martin Couvra takes a one-stroke lead into the final round of the Italian Open.
The Frenchman, who is playing in his rookie season after graduating from the HotelPlanner Tour, carded a three under par round of 67 to move one shot clear of Spaniard Eugenio Chacarra at Argentario Golf Club.
On the HotelPlanner Tour, Eddie Pepperell carded nine birdies to move into a three-way tie at the top at the Le Vaudreuil Golf Challenge in Normandy.
The Englishman signed for a six under par round of 66 to reach 13 under par and share the lead with David Horsey and Swede Albin Bergstrom, who both recorded seven under par 65s on a low-scoring day.
Max Kennedy was tied for 48th on two-under after a 73 while Dermot McElroy‘s 76 left him 62nd on two-over.
