For the third consecutive day, Thailand’s Jeeno Thitikul held her spot atop the leaderboard as she attempts to defend her title at the Mizuho Americas Open in West Caldwell, N.J.

Thitikul saw her three-shot lead after two rounds sliced to two in the third round on Saturday as she carded a 2-under-par 70 to finish 54 holes at 10-under 206.

France’s Celine Boutier followed up her 68 on Friday with a 67 to climb into solo second at 8 under. Korea’s Hye-Jin Choi (-7) and Allisen Corpuz (-6) produced the day’s low rounds at 66 to move into third and a share of fourth, respectively. China’s Ruoning Yin (68) and Australia’s Hannah Green (68) are tied with Corpuz.

Thitikul won the event last year at Liberty National Golf Club, but it was moved 27 miles northwest to Mountain Ridge Country Club this year.

Thitiful, who stands No. 2 in the Rolex Women’s World Golf Rankings, bogeyed the second hole but made back-to-back birdies on Nos. 7 and 8 and posted a birdie on the par-5 17th to reach 10-under for the first time.

Thitikul has only missed six greens in 54 holes.

“I think maybe I just not, you know, expect the perfect shot just going in the hole,” she said. “I mean, I just pick my target or where I want to start the ball and I just commit and then hit the ball.”

Boutier bogeyed the first hole to fall back to 2-under, but went bogey-free from there while converting three birdies on each nine. The 32-year-old former Duke standout played the four par-3s in 3 under.

“I feel like I learn a little bit more each day on this course,” Boutier said. “I feel like today the conditions were a little bit more difficult at the end, but it was actually really calm the first, you know, like 12 holes or so.

“So I feel like it was playing slightly bit easier. I feel like I gave myself more birdie chances, which kind of helped a lot.”

Choi, who started the day tied for 13th, birdied five of eight holes in the middle of her round and sliced her number of putts from 36 on Friday to 29 on Saturday.

“I think it was because actually I really hit a lot of putts yesterday, but it was because the green was still hard and if I hit the second shot far to the pin, it was hard to make two putts,” Choi said. “…So I made lots of three-putts yesterday.

“Compared to yesterday, today I didn’t really have a long putt left, and I made a good save on the difficult putts, too.

Jennifer Kupcho (-3) and Brooke Matthews (-2), who started in second and third place, respectively, each shot 2 over 74 to fall out of the top nine.

–Field Level Media

Former NFL linebacker Anthony Wint will fight for a UFC contract on Dana White’s Contender Series, per multiple media reports.

Wint played college football at Florida International University, where he was a three-time All-Conference USA selection. He signed with the New York Jets as an undrafted free agent in 2018.

He appeared in two NFL games that season, recording one tackle and a forced fumble.

In 2023, Wint made the shift to mixed martial arts. Thus far, he has collected a 6-0 record with four wins by knockout and one by submission.

The 30-year-old heavyweight is listed at 6’0″ and 224 pounds. He will take on Matt Adams (6-2) on August 11 at the Meta Apex in Las Vegas.

–Field Level Media

England’s Alex Fitzpatrick shot 7-under-par 64 to take the lead through three rounds of the Truist Championship on Saturday in Charlotte.

He’s at 14-under 199 with a one-shot lead on Norway’s Kristoffer Reitan, who posted a bogey-free 64, and a two-shot edge on Cameron Young, who recorded a 63.

It was a day with lots of movement on the leaderboard at Quail Hollow Club, where last May the PGA Championship was contested.

Fitzpatrick was 6 under for the round through 12 holes, pulling into a tie for the lead. He birdied Nos. 12 and 15 before the momentum was interrupted with a bogey on the 16th as he had to hit out of a greenside bunker. He needed an 8-foot putt for birdie on the next hole.

Young, who last weekend won the Cadillac Championship in Miami with a wire-to-wire effort, had an eagle on the par-5 seventh hole by sinking a 28-foot putt. His lone bogey came on the final hole.

Denmark’s Nicolai Hojgaard (67) and South Korea’s Sunjae Im (70), the second-round leader, share fourth place at 10 under.

Justin Thomas (69), J.J. Spaun (65) and England’s Tommy Fleetwood (70) are tied for sixth at 9 under.

Among the top 10 on the leaderboard, only Fitzpatrick and Thomas have kept their scores below 70 for all three rounds.

The start of the third round was delayed because of morning storms. It marked the second time in three days that a round was off schedule because of weather.

–Field Level Media