LEONA MAGUIRE IS knocking on the door of a top-five finish at the US Open — but the Irish golfer won’t give up on glory in North Carolina either.

The Cavan woman produced her best round of the week yesterday with a three-under par 68, and moved into a share of tenth position at Pine Needles Lodge and Golf Club.

Maguire is now five-under for the tournament, eight shots off leader, Minjee Lee from Australia, who carded a four-under-par 67 to set a 54-hole scoring record and seize a three-stroke lead after Saturday’s third round.

“I’m quite a few shots back, but you never know,” Maguire said. “Things can turn pretty quickly in a major championship. I’ll just try and post a number tomorrow and see what happens.

On maintaining her focus, and what she’s learned about the course that can help her today, she added:

“It’s just being really disciplined, not trying to chase after some of the pins. They’re tempting to go after some of the pins, but it’s just so penal if you miss them in the wrong spots.

“I think you just have to hit a lot of fairways, a lot of greens, stay really patient, cliches you expect from the US Open, but there is some chances out there. You have to take advantage of those shorter holes and the par-5s, and there’s a few other holes that you just have to take your par and know par is a good score.”

Maguire tees off in today’s final round at 5.16pm Irish time with China’s Xiyu Janet Lin.

And the former Duke University student is hoping to round off a productive few days on a high.

“North Carolina has a really special place in my heart and really enjoying being out here this week,” she noted, “and plenty of Blue Devil shouts and all that, so nice to have some home support.”