Sawt Falasteen - Ireland's Maguire, American Alex share 36-hole LPGA lead

Maguire, chasing her first LPGA victory, stood alongside Alex, who shoot 66, on 13-under 131 after 36 holes of the 54-hole event at Crown Colony in Fort Myers, Florida.

Alex and Maguire owned a four-stroke edge on the third-place trio of Americans Stacy Lewis and Brittany Altomare and Sweden's Linnea Johansson.

Sharing sixth on 136 were Thailand's Patty Tavatanakit, American Lexi Thompson and South Korean Lee6 Jeong-eun.

Maguire birdied the fourth and sixth holes and closed the front side with a birdie at the par-5 ninth.

She reeled off three birdies in a row starting at the par-4 11th and closed with another at the par-5 18th.

Maguire, a 27-year-old former world amateur number one, shot the lowest final-round score in a major by any man or woman with a 61 at last year's Evian Championship in France.

Alex, whose lone LPGA title came at the 2018 Portland Classic, began on the back nine with birdies at the 10th and par-5 12th and answered a bogey at the 15th with birdies at 16 and 18.

The 31-year-old American birdied the par-5 fifth and closed with back-to-back birdies at the eighth and par-5 ninth to match Maguire for the lead.

Lewis, who turns 37 later this month, chases her first LPGA victory since the 2020 Scottish Open and her first US triumph since the 2017 Portland Classic.

"It was really good," Lewis said. "Just kind of take what the course gives you. You know you're probably going to make a bogey or two here and there. Just keep trying to make as many birdies as you can."

G.AbuHamad--SF-PST