At first blush, how do Jennifer Kupcho and Leona Maguire team up? American and Irish, long combatants on the Solheim Cup and from very far away from each other on planet golf.

Alas, sometimes this just works. And through three rounds at the DOW Championship, Maguire and Kupcho (again) are very firmly in the mix despite an over-par effort Saturday.

Maguire and Kupcho, the 36-hole leaders, sit at 11 under through three days and are just two shots back of the lead held by Sarah Schmelzel and Albane Valenzuela.

It was a tough start for the duo (who have a tremendous name this week, the 'Irish Goodbyes') as they were 3-over after nine holes. They added another bogey on No. 16 before finishing strong – making birdies on both Nos. 17 and 18 to pull back into the conversation near the top of the leaderboard.

The pair came into Saturday with high expectations after blistering the field with a 10-under 60 in best-ball play on Friday. The Solheim Cup rivals headed into the weekend with a 13-under 127, one off the 36-hole scoring record at the championship.

Kupcho admitted Friday there was "lots of golf to go" despite getting off to such an excellent two-day start.

That's certainly true now, as with just one round to go, they'll have some ground to make up on the leaders. But they've proven they've got what it takes as a pair to get that done.

Kupcho, who won this tournament in 2022 alongside Lizette Salas and finished runner-up last year with Ally Ewing, said it was she who initiated the partnership. Ewing, of course, announced she would be retiring at the end of the 2024 campaign. She had to find someone new for this year's DOW Championship and asked Maguire close to the beginning of the year, who responded in kind.

They're both consistent, Maguire said, and Kupcho noted there were lots of similarities in their games.

"I think we're both very similar putters, very similar players in general. I obviously have a little bit more length than her, but other than that, we're pretty similar," Kupcho said. "We don't get too aggressive, I would say, on attacking pins. So, we give ourselves lots of putts and kind of have our speed under control and kind of just make it easy on each other."

Maguire has had a tough stretch of results lately, so a high finish this week would do wonders for both her confidence and her status on the Race to CME Globe. Maguire came into the week missing four of her last five cuts, but she broke a streak of four early exits in a row with a tie for 19th at KPMG Women's PGA Championship.

Kupcho hasn't been as consistent either, with just one top-10 so far this season. However, that result was a big one – she won the ShopRite LPGA Classic presented by Acer for her fourth career LPGA Tour title. It was her first since her DOW Championship title in 2022.

Maguire has two wins in her LPGA Tour career, coming in 2022 and 2023. She's ready to break the drought, too – and they've got some momentum heading into Sunday thanks to their two closing birdies in a row Saturday.

"They were huge. I think it gives us a chance going into tomorrow," Maguire said of the final two birdies. "Just really got nothing going today, but tried to stay patient, tried to keep giving ourselves chances. Eventually did on the last holes. Jen holed two great putts."

Kupcho admitted there wasn't much talking between the duo, as they both knew what was happening early and what they needed to do late to give themselves a good chance come Sunday.

"I feel like we took it how was it and kept fighting," Kupcho said.

The fight continues for one more day. And now the 'Irish Goodbyes' are looking to say 'hello' to another LPGA Tour title.

‘Irish Goodbyes’ Looking to Say ‘Hello’ to Another LPGA Title

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