Ireland’s Leona Maguire crashed to second-bottom on the Olympic golf leaderboard after an 11-over third round of 83 with Lydia Ko and Morgane Matreaux joint top in Paris.
Maguire is at 24 over par after a harrowing day that included a quadruple bogey at 15 and triple at 16, with only Finland’s Noora Komulainen, on 28 over, below her in the 60-strong field.
The 29-year-old is a two-time winner on the LPGA Tour and was also victorious at the Ladies European Tour’s Aramco Team Series in London last month but has struggled at Le Golf National, shooting 78 and then 79 across her opening two rounds.
New Zealander Ko – looking to complete the set of Olympic medals having won silver in Rio de Janeiro in 2016 and bronze in Tokyo three years ago – and Switzerland’s Matreaux lead on nine under, two strokes clear of America’s Rose Zhang and Japan’s Miyu Yamashita.
Ko’s four-under 68 featured six birdies and two bogeys, while halfway leader Matreaux signed for a one-under 71 after rescuing a sloppy round with an eagle at the last.
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Zhang’s five-under 67 included three birdies on a flawless front nine and then two eagles coming home, at 14 and 18, although a double bogey at 15 prevented the 21-year-old from joining Ko and Matreaux at the summit.
Defending champion and world No 1 Nelly Korda is five shots adrift on four under following a two-under round of 70, bouncing back from bogeys at her first and third holes by carding five birdies before a third and final bogey at 17.
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Hannah Green notched the round of the day, a six-under 66, which hinged on a stunning back nine as the Australian recorded five birdies – including four in five holes – and an eagle around a solitary bogey at 15 to move to three under for the tournament.
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