Women’s Scottish Open: Charley Hull three shots behind leader Lauren Coughlin going into final round

Lauren Coughlin carded a six-under 66 to seize a one-shot lead heading into the final round of the Women’s Scottish Open, with England’s Charley Hull in contention three strokes back.

The American, who earned her first career LPGA win last month at the Canadian Women’s Open, collected six birdies during her bogey-free round at Dundonald Links in Ayrshire to reside at 12 under for the tournament.

Coughlin rolled in a birdie on the 18th hole to give her a one-shot lead over Megan Khang (69), who had shared the halfway lead with two-time major champion Minjee Lee (72) going into day three.

“I’m starting to hit the ball extremely well, and I’m just starting to feel really good about my game and myself and trying to keep it going,” Coughlin said.

Hull is in a tie for third at nine under with Esther Henseleit, who won an Olympic silver medal for Germany in Paris last week.

Hull opened with a nine-over 81 at the Olympics, in her first appearance back after a shoulder injury, but she played eight under the rest of the week to find some form which she has carried over to Scotland.

“I played very solid today,” Hull said. “I was happy with how I played… it was a good, solid day and I’m looking forward to tomorrow.”

Lee sits in fifth place on eight under, with New Zealand’s Lydia Ko – the gold medal winner at Paris – one shot further back.

The Women’s British Open, the final major of the year, is next week at St Andrews.

Watch the final round of the Women’s Scottish Open, live on Sky Sports Mix from midday on Sunday, also available via a free stream on skysports.com and the Sky Sports app.

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