Former Epson Tour Player of the Year Gabriela Ruffels is right on the heels of 54-hole leader Jenny Bae at the MEXICO Riviera Maya Open at Mayakoba in Playa del Carmen, Mexico.

The Australian is one of few players in the field to card an under-par round each day of this inaugural event, shooting a 71 on Thursday, a 69 on Friday and a 71 on Saturday to sit at 5-under overall, just two shots behind Bae with 18 holes remaining. Moving Day, in particular, was a bit of a rollercoaster for the 2023 Epson Tour graduate, as Ruffels began her third round by immediately dropping two strokes with a double bogey on the first hole at El Camaleón Golf Course.

She managed to recover from that early mistake with a pair of birdies on the par-4 3rd and par-5 5th holes, but the 25-year-old stumbled again with two back-to-back bogeys on the sixth and seventh holes, now sitting at 2-under total with just over half the round still to play. She steadied herself with a five-hole stretch of pars and then dropped another shot after making bogey on the par-5 13th hole, another misstep that seemingly took Ruffels totally out of the conversation with only five holes to go.

But the three-time Epson Tour winner dug deep, grabbing a birdie on the par-4 14th hole to get back to 2-under for the tournament and then rattling off three consecutive birdies on the last three holes of her third round to grind out a 1-under 71, a day-three effort that has her within two shots of the top spot on the MEXICO Riviera Maya Open leaderboard.

“I didn't start that well at all,” Ruffels said. “Hit it to the right on No. 1. Made a double. But I was proud of the way I stuck in there and felt like I gave myself the chance to come back. To finish the way I did is really good, and some momentum into tomorrow. They're tough holes to finish, and I felt like I locked in there because they're tough holes. I did the same yesterday, which is funny on the same exact holes. I guess I just kind of lock in, and I needed to do that from the start.”

Ruffels is in her second season as an LPGA Tour member, earning status after finishing first on the Epson Tour Official Money List at the end of 2023. She had an incredibly solid rookie year in 2024, only missing five cuts in 25 official starts and collecting four top-10 finishes, three of which were T3s or better that Ruffels recorded at the FIR HILLS SERI PAK Championship (T3) at Palos Verdes Golf Club, the Founders Cup presented by U.S. Virgin Islands (3) at Upper Montclair Country Club and the Mizuho Americas Open (T3) at Liberty National Golf Club.

But despite that strong start, the young talent has struggled thus far this year, missing three cuts in nine starts and only managing to find the top 30 once after tying for 28th at the T-Mobile Match Play presented by MGM Rewards at Shadow Creek in Las Vegas. Ruffels is currently ranked 90th in the Race to the CME Globe, and while she still has plenty of time to improve her position in the season-long point standings, she will need to pick up the pace here soon if she wants to play the last couple of months stress-free and have her status locked in for 2026.

However, Ruffels now has an opportunity on Sunday in Mexico to become the season’s fifth Rolex First-Time Winner and right the ship in a big way with the U.S. Women’s Open at Erin Hills on deck in Wisconsin next week, what is the second major championship of the 2025 season.

Considering she trails a trio of winless rookies that includes her fellow Epson Tour graduates Bae and Yahui Zhang, as well as Japan’s Chisato Iwai, and considering that she already has plenty of experience contending on the LPGA Tour in her short tenure as a member, Ruffels is a threatening player for the top of the leaderboard to see chasing with only the final round remaining.

And Ruffels is ready for the challenge of closing the two-shot gap that currently stands between her and Bae, knowing that if she can just stay mentally strong at what’s been an incredibly difficult venue throughout the week, she has just as good of a chance as anyone to hoist the MEXICO Riviera Maya Open trophy come Sunday afternoon.

“Keep sticking to your routine, being yourself out there, and trusting the process,” Ruffels said about what she has learned from her past experiences in contention. “Staying calm, patient, especially on a golf course like this because you never know. Even if you're a couple back, crazy things can happen. If I just stay in there, you can finish like I did today. Just staying patient.”

Aussie Gabriela Ruffels Rallies Late to Sit Fourth in Mexico with 18 Holes Remaining

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