<p>Leona Maguire. Credit: Tristan Jones / LET</p>
Leona Maguire and Stephanie Meadow took advantage of a break with the weather to move up the leaderboard in the LPGA’s T-Mobile Match Play in Las Vegas.
Only the top eight after today’s third round will make the matchplay quarter-finals tomorrow, and Maguire’s three-under 69 left her just a shot behind a quartet of leaders on three-under, with Meadow just a shot outside the top eight after a second successive 72.
There was a five-shot difference between the early and late waves at Shadow Creek and early starters Maguire and Meadow now have a great chance of making the knockout stages.
“I took better advantage of the par-5s today, which made a big difference,” said Maguire, who is looking to improve on last year’s run to the semi-finals.
“Played the par-threes really nice. That was sort of the key difference between yesterday and today.”
With the first major of the season just two weeks away and a big year ahead with the Olympic Games and the Solheim Cup, the Co Cavan star is pacing herself for the summer.
“It's a massive summer coming up,” she said. “We have a lot of golf to play in the meantime. We had a nice European Team dinner last night, so that was good to catch up with everybody and see everyone.
"Suzann (Pettersen) and Caroline (Martens) are over, so scouting people for match play.
“Yeah, it's a big summer. The Olympics would be a huge honour to be my third one again, and obviously the Solheim Cup is a lot of fun and you really want to be part of that.
“A lot of big tournaments in the meantime, so try and get my game in as good a shape come summer.”
Maguire lies just one shot behind Spain’s Carlota Ciganda, Americans Angel Yin and Rose Zhang and Korea’s Sei Young Kim, tied for fifth with Japan’s Minami Katsu on three-under-par.
But with just six strokes covering the top 23 on the leaderboard, Maguire just hopes to go low today and make that top eight.
“I won't watch the leaderboard for an awful lot tomorrow,” she said. “I'm sure my caddie will keep an eye on it, as well as holes like 16 and 18. Coming down the stretch if there is something that needs to be done, it might change a decision.
“For the most part, it's the same as any other week: trying to finish up as high as you can.
“I feel like my game is in really good shape. It's more of the same. I'm just trying to hit as many fairways and as many greens as possible.
“It's going to be tough tomorrow with the wind, so just trying to be patient. I feel like this course really tests your patience and you have to be very disciplined and just more of that again tomorrow.
“I think this is a great golf course, one of the best courses we play all year. It's a great test, so it's really good practice heading into Chevron in a few weeks.”
While Maguire is still seeking her first top 10 on the LPGA Tour this season, she’s not concerned.
“I feel like I've been playing some really good golf, just hasn't all clicked together at the same time,” she said. “We're trending in the right direction, which is nice.”
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