South Korea's Mi Hyang Lee has a one-shot lead heading into the final day of the Evian Championships ©Getty Images

South Korea’s Mi Hyang Lee remains on course to win her maiden major title as she maintained her one-shot advantage at the Evian Championships in  Évian-les-Bains, France, after the third round.

Having avoided dropping shots during the opening two rounds, Lee began the third day with two straight bogeys before regaining her composure to earn birdies on the fifth and ninth holes, and finish the front nine level par.

The 22-year-old produced another two birdies and one bogey in the second half of the round to end one-under-par for the day and move to 10-under for the tournament.

The United States' Lexi Thompson, who shared the lead with Lee after the opening round, lies second on the leaderboard having racked up six birdies on the way to a five-under-par round of 66, with a bogey on the 16th proving to be only a blip.

The 20-year-old admitted afterwards she is proving to be inconsistent having struggled with putting in yesterday’s round, but believes she made improvements in the third round.

"I just kind of figured out a little something with my putting that worked and that helped me out today," she said.

"I didn't hit it that great off the tee today.

"I hit it a lot better off the tee yesterday, but I just got more putts today."

The United States' Lexi Thompson recovered from a difficult round yesterday to move into second on the leaderboard
The United States' Lexi Thompson recovered from a difficult round to move into second on the leaderboard ©Getty Images

New Zealand’s Lydia Ko and America's Morgan Pressel are the next best-placed golfers to challenge Lee’s lead with both lying on eight-under-par.

Ko was the most impressive of the two on the penultimate day of competition, carding a four-under-par round of 67.

South Korea’s Amy Yang, China’s Shanshan Feng and Denmark’s Nicole Broch Larsen will hope for fast starts to their final rounds to ignite their respective challenges for the title as they sit three shots behind the leader.

Meanwhile, world number one Inbee Park of South Korea and America's Michelle Wie are among the big names who are out of contention for the title as the pair are eight shots adrift on two-under-par.


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