Amanda Doherty carded a third round of 72 (-1) to maintain a one-shot lead at the ISPS Handa World Invitational presented by Aviv Clinics.
The LPGA Tour rookie got off to a slower start at Galgorm with a bogey on the third followed by a birdie on the fourth, before a double bogey on the fifth.
However, the 24-year-old soon got into her groove rolling in three birdies around the turn on holes eight, 10 and 12.
Although Doherty dropped another shot on 14, a birdie on the last meant the American reached 12-under-par to keep her one-shot lead with one round remaining.
“I feel like overall it was a good day. I got off to a little bit of a rough start and I hit a few crazy shots today, so I managed to kind of come back from those and try and stay patient to have a decent round,” said Doherty.
“Going into the second round and going into today I was in pretty much the same spot, so I feel like I’ve had a little bit of experience with that this week. Obviously, the final round is a little bit different, but I’m excited.
“I was glad to get a birdie on 18. I had a few close calls, and nothing was going in, so it was nice to get that one. I was in contention quite a few times last year on the Epson Tour. I didn’t pull any of them off, but I feel like I had good final rounds. That’s all you can ask for. You can’t control what anybody else does. As long as I can have a solid final round, I’ll be happy with that.”
England’s Georgia Hall and Chinese Taipei’s Peiyun Chien sit one shot behind the leader on 11-under-par after 54 holes.
It was a solid round for Major-winner Hall, who shot 70 (-3) with three bogeys, four birdies and a tap-in eagle on her scorecard.
“I’m a little bit disappointed of my round, to be honest,” said Hall. “I had a really steady front nine, I was very happy with that and then back nine was really slow for me.
“I didn’t really get anything going. I missed couple putts, but it was great birdie on the last and it gives me a chance for tomorrow. I think I should have played a little bit better than that. I just need to do some practice now and get ready for tomorrow.
“It’s where I want to be on the leaderboard. I want to keep putting myself in pressure situations like this, in contention. The more I can I think I’m bound to come out on top here or there.”
While Chien got off to a hot start with three birdies in her first four holes and she rolled in another on nine to make the turn in four-under.
Even…
..
Click Here to Read the Full Original Article at Ladies European Tour…