Rio 2016: Leona Maguire and Stephanie Meadow see medal hopes fade

Leona Maguire and Stephanie Meadow saw their Olympic medal hopes ended on Friday as they shot rounds of 74 and 71 respectively to slip out of contention in Rio.

Thursday’s impressive showing had given hope Maguire in particular could mount a challenge for the podium, but she struggled on a windy day where scoring was difficult. Maguire now sits at level par for the tournament, with Meadow a stroke further back.

World amateur number one Maguire shot an impressive 65 on Thursday, and she teed off in her third round with world number one Lydia Ko.

And she made a good start on Friday, birdying the second and fifth to suggest she could accelerate up the leaderboard. However things unravelled on the back nine and she bogeyed five of her last eight holes as her chances faded.

Playing partner Ko produced the round of the day, carding a brilliant six under par 65.

Meadow meanwhile put together a run of four consecutive birdies from the fourth to the seventh, but couldn’t keep that momentum going and signed for a level par 71.

Currently leading the competition is Korea’s Ingbee Park, and she battled her way to a one under par 70 after a mixed round which saw her birdie six holes and bogey five.

She has a two stroke lead over Ko who is currently in the silver medal position on nine under par. The Kiwi is tied with America's Gerina Piller, who shot a 68 in her third round.