Woad & Hull in contention going into Open final round

AIG Women's Open - round three

-7 Y Noh (US); -4 E Henseleit (Ger), L Li (US), J Thitikul (Tha), Ryu (Kor), S Kuwaki (Jap); -3 L Woad (Eng)

Selected others: -2 C Hull (Eng); -1 L Ko (Nz); +1 N Korda (US), L Coughlin (US); +2 C Boutier (Fra), M Rhodes (Eng)

Full leaderboard

England's Lottie Woad and Charley Hull are both in contention heading into the final round of the AIG Women's Open at Royal Lytham and St Annes.

Woad carded a one-under 70 on Saturday to sit at three under while Hull recovered from three early bogeys to sign for a 71, leaving herself five shots behind leader Yealimi Noh, at two under overall.

"I was pretty proud," Hull told Sky Sports.

The 30-year-old, who is chasing her maiden major title after being a runner-up on five occasions, crucially made birdies on the 15th and 16th holes as she fought back on the back nine and then scrambled to save par on the penultimate hole.

"The first six holes I played like a 10 handicapper and I missed three putts I should have holed from inside five feet that would have kept me at level par instead of three over," Hull added.

"Then I did have a bit of a bounce-back. I was pretty happy with the way I finished."

On a day when the challenging windy conditions were again a feature on the Lancashire coast, American Noh was one of only nine players to end the third round under par as she climbed to the top of the leaderboard with a two-under 69.

However, a stellar cast that contains four of the top 10 players on the globe are within five shots and will aim to chase down the world number 69 in Sunday's fourth round.

Germany's Esther Henseleit, who fired a four-under 67 is three shots back at four under along with American Lucy Li, Japan's Shiho Kuwaki, world number two Jeeno Thitikul, of Thailand, and Friday's overnight leader South Korean Ryu Hae-ran, who is seeking her third consecutive major title.

New Zealand's three-time major winner Lydia Ko rolled in three birdies on the back nine to also remain in the mix at one under.

Meanwhile, world number one Nelly Korda's prospects of securing a career grand slam were dented by a double-bogey six on the 18th that leaves the American eight shots adrift of the lead.

More to follow