Leona lights up the K Club

Cavan golfer scores stunning 63 to roar back into Irish Open contention heading into final day

Cavan golfing star Leona Maguire produced a sensational third-round charge at the K Club, firing a flawless nine-under-par 63 to put herself firmly back in the hunt for Women's Irish Open glory.

The Ballyconnell native delivered one of the standout rounds of the tournament, and in recent memory even, tearing apart the challenging and rain soaked K Club layout with a magnificent nine-under-par 63.

Nine birdies, not a single dropped shot, and a course-record-equalling score has now put Maguire right back in the conversation for lifting the coveted home turf title.

After two frustrating days, the Irish star required a big response if she was to stand any chance of competing for the Open title and the lucrative €67,000 winner's prize.

But from the opening holes, Maguire looked like a player transformed, her putter finally behaving, and the confidence started flowing from there.

The former amateur world number one has long carried the pride of her home county onto the biggest stages in women's golf, but there was an added significance to producing such a performance on home soil.

And incredibly, the Ballyconnell native could have scored even lower.

She had genuine birdie opportunities on each of her final three holes, but none of the putts dropped.

Maguire had been left ruing missed opportunities on Friday, suggesting afterwards that she had played well enough to shoot 10-under on another day. This time, she finally got the reward.

At the time of writing, Maguire sits in fourth place heading into Sunday's final round.

There is, however, still a sizeable mountain to climb.

Runaway leader Casandra Alexander remains seven shots ahead, sitting at three-under for her third round with 12 holes completed.