Gainer and Ruffels share lead at Evian Championship
England's Cara Gainer and Australia's Gabriela Ruffels share a one-stroke lead at 11-under entering the final round of the Evian Championship.
Gainer carded a 7-under 64 and Ruffels shot 66 in the third round on Saturday at the Evian Resort Golf Club in Evian-les-Bains, France.
World No 2 Jeeno Thitikul of Thailand, three-time major winner Minjee Lee and fellow Australian Grace Kim, and second-round leader Somi Lee of South Korea are all 10-under at the fourth of this season's five LPGA Tour majors.
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Gainer, 29, picked up her maiden title on the Ladies European Tour in Morocco in February.
She tied for third at an LET event at this course in May.
"I've got confidence coming from that tournament," she said. "I know it's set up slightly different, but I have good feelings and good vibes in this amazing beautiful place."
Gainer put herself into contention for her first major victory with six birdies, an eagle at the par-5 seventh hole and one bogey Saturday.
Ruffels, 25, has three titles on the Epson Tour but her best finish in a major was a T13 at the US Women's Open in 2020.
She opened the third round with her only bogey of the day before posting six birdies, including four during a five-hole stretch from Nos. 11-15.
"Putter was really good today," Ruffels said. "Made some putts inside 15 feet. And, yeah, was just super solid tee to green."
Japan's Yuri Yoshida and China's Ruixin Liu posted the low rounds of the day at 8-under 63.
Yoshida finished a clean round with eight birdies and is tied for seventh at 9-under, while Liu collected seven birdies and an eagle at No 7 to move into a tie for 12th at 7-under.
Andrea Lee (71 on Saturday) and Jennifer Kupcho (72) are the leading Americans in the field and part of the group in 12th place, four shots off the lead.
English amateur Lottie Woad (70) finished with a 60-foot birdie putt and is tied for 19th at 6-under with Thailand's Ariya Jutanugarn, a two-time major winner.
"I didn't feel like I played that bad," Woad said. "This course can kind of get you sometimes. Had two sixes which didn't help. Hit a lot of good shots and holed some putts, and also hit some really good putts at the end that didn't quite go in."
THIRD ROUND SCORES
-11 Cara Gainer (England) 68 70 64
Gabriela Ruffels (Australia) 65 71 66
-10 Minjee Lee (Australia) 66 71 66
Atthaya Thitikul (Thailand) 68 68 67
Grace Kim (Australia) 65 68 70
So Mi Lee (Korea Republic) 67 65 71
-9 Yuri Yoshida (Japan) 72 69 63
Casandra Alexander (South Africa) 67 68 69
-8 Nastasia Nadaud (France) 71 67 67
Jenny Shin (Korea Republic) 69 68 68
Hye-Jin Choi (Korea Republic) 67 68 70
-7 Ruixin Liu (China PR) 72 71 63
Leona Maguire (Republic of Ireland) 65 71 70
Emily Pedersen (Denmark) 70 67 69
Aditi Ashok (India) 67 69 70
Rio Takeda (Japan) 69 67 70
Andrea Lee (USA) 65 70 71
Jennifer Kupcho (USA) 65 69 72
-6 Ariya Jutanugarn (Thailand) 69 70 68
Lottie Woad (England) 68 69 70
-5 Miyu Yamashita (Japan) 69 71 68
Mao Saigo (Japan) 67 72 69
Mary Liu (China PR) 67 71 70
Celine Boutier (France) 68 70 70
-4 Mi Hyang Lee (Korea Republic) 71 68 70
Gaby Lopez (Mexico) 68 74 67
Peiyun Chien (Chinese Taipei) 71 71 67
Angel Yin (USA) 72 67 70
Julia Ramirez (Spain) 72 67 70
Helen Briem (Germany) 67 75 67
-3 Nanna Koerstz Madsen (Denmark) 74 68 68
Sarah Schmelzel (USA) 70 71 69
Jin Young Ko (Korea Republic) 70 69 71
Chisato Iwai (Japan) 69 74 67
Na Rin An (Korea Republic) 74 70 66
-2 Hyo Joo Kim (Korea Republic) 71 70 70
Perrine Delacour (France) 70 71 70
Shannon Tan (Singapore) 73 68 70
Paula Reto (South Africa) 69 71 71
Allisen Corpuz (USA) 76 67 68
Pajaree Anannarukarn (Thailand) 73 70 68
Megan Khang (USA) 68 75 68
Auston Kim (USA) 69 68 74
-1 Rose Zhang (USA) 71 70 71
Jin Hee Im (Korea Republic) 70 72 70
Stephanie Kyriacou (Australia) 70 68 74
Nelly Korda (USA) 67 70 75
Brianna Do (USA) 76 68 68
Brooke Henderson (Canada) 73 71 68
0 Weiwei Zhang (China PR) 71 69 73
Jasmine Suwannapura (Thailand) 72 68 73
Gigi Stoll (USA) 72 70 71
Ayaka Furue (Japan) 67 72 74
Patty Tavatanakit (Thailand) 71 68 74
Jeongeun Lee5 (Korea Republic) 74 69 70
1 Aline Krauter (Germany) 73 69 72
Minami Katsu (Japan) 72 70 72
Ina Yoon (Korea Republic) 68 70 76
Amy Yang (Korea Republic) 72 71 71
Nasa Hataoka (Japan) 70 68 76
Lucy Li (USA) 70 73 71
Madelene Sagstrom (Sweden) 72 72 70
Esther Henseleit (Germany) 72 72 70
Chanettee Wannasaen (Thailand) 69 75 70
Jenny Bae (USA) 71 73 70
2 Hira Naveed (Australia) 71 71 73
Youmin Hwang (Korea Republic) 75 68 72
Haeji Kang (Korea Republic) 72 71 72
Lindy Duncan (USA) 69 69 77
Manon De Roey (Belgium) 74 70 71
4 Azahara Munoz (Spain) 72 71 74
Maria Marin (Colombia) 75 69 73
Gemma Dryburgh (Scotland) 74 70 73
Bronte Law (England) 71 73 73
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