Casandra Alexander will take a three shot lead into the final round of the 2026 KPMG Women’s Irish Open as the South African looks to complete a wire-to-wire victory and earn her first Ladies European Tour (LET) win of the season.
On a rain-hampered moving day at The K Club, the 27-year-old continued her fine play carding a round of 69 (-3) on the Palmer South Course to move to 18-under par.
“It was a bit of a slow day out there,” Alexander said, who fired the course-record 63 (-9) on Thursday. “It was tough on and off the golf course with the rain. I had a couple lip outs but it was still good. I’m still leading the golf tournament heading into Sunday so no complaints.”
Alexander started strong once again in Ireland making the turn in 33 (-3) before the horn sounded to suspend play following heavy rainfall. After a 45 minute delay, the big-hitting South African returned to the course but struggled to get things going again carding six straight pars as the chasing pack, led by playing partner Sara Kouskova, closed the gap. Alexander would birdie the short par-4 16th but gave a shot back at the par-3 17th.
“[The suspension] was definitely a momentum killer,” the South African said. “The putting just felt a little different after all the rain. I was struggling to get the pace right on the greens. It was a bit slow and I started to get a little impatient on the back-nine. But I pulled myself back and realised I’m still leading the golf tournament. Nothing to really complain about.”
Alexander currently leads the LET Order of Merit with five runner-up finishes to her name. Ranked World No 38 thanks to an excellent season, one which included a T10 finish at The Amundi Evian Championship, she is chasing a second win on the circuit this week after winning last year’s Tipsport Czech Ladies Open.
“Hopefully we can extend the lead early on tomorrow,” Alexander said. “I’m feeling good. It’s exactly where I want to be. Obviously the number one goal is to win. We’ve come second too many times this year. I just want to make sure I give myself as many opportunities as possible to get the job done. It would be a really special win. It’s one of everyone’s favourite events [on tour].”
In solo second sits Czech Republic’s Kouskova. Trailing Alexander by five shots before the start of play, the two-time LET winner fired a bogey-free scorecard, a 67 (-5) which included three birdies and an eagle at the par-5 7th.
“It wasn’t easy today so I had to stay patient again,” Kouskova said, who recorded her best Major finish last month at the AIG Women’s Open placing T12. “I can’t complain at all today. The suspension was actually quite fast. I stretched a little bit then rolled in putt right away [at the 10th]. It wasn’t too bad. I didn’t really feel like we stopped play. I’ll try not to think about [Alexander]’s score tomorrow. I’ll just try to put my own good score together.”
Two back from Kouskova on 13-under par is in the in-form Kajsa Arwefjall who matched the round of the week 63 (-9) so surge into contention once again. The Swede carded eight birdies and one eagle at the par-5 10th to fire her lowest ever round on the LET. This comes two weeks after the Arwefjall fell agonisingly short of claiming a maiden win on the circuit at the VP Bank Swiss Ladies Open.
“It was super fun out there,” she said. “I had a great group playing with Alice [Hewson] and Dorthea [Forbrigd] even though it was raining. I was devastated after Switzerland but I also felt very motivated to come back and play well again. I think was a good [learning experience]. It’s always fun to shoot low scores. Nine-under is my best ever score. My previous best was seven-under so I beat it by two.”
Also making the most of moving day was home favourite Leona Maguire. The Irish Solheim Cup winner read the low-scoring script at her native K Club ripping the Palmer South apart with nine birdies. She will now play in the penultimate group on Sunday after surging into T6 position on 11-under par (Maguire and Arwefjall’s 63 did not match the course record due to preferred lies being in place).
“I knew there was a low one out there,” Maguire said. “Honestly, I didn’t really play it that much better today than I did yesterday I just holed a few more putts and hit it a smidge closer. I still felt like I left a couple out there but it was a nice moving day. We were expecting heavy rain today and got lucky in patches. It was nice to hit a lot of nice shots today.
“It’s going to need another one of the same tournament. She [Alexander] obviously hits it far. She’s going to make a lot of birdies but we’ll try and make her sweat and see what happens.”
Maguire will tee up with Swedish pair Louise Rydqvist and Corinne Viden on the final day with the duo locked on 12-under par in a tie for fourth.
Finland’s Noora Komulainen also sits sixth alongside Maguire after battling flu on Saturday to post a 66 (-6). The 35-year-old is a recent winner having claimed the Tipsport Czech Ladies Open back in June.
Five players round out the top-10 in a tie for eighth on 10-under par: USA’s Brianna Navarrosa, Germany’s Alexandra Forsterling, Italy’s Alessandra Fanali, Norway’s Dorthea Forbrigd and Sweden’s Lisa Pettersson.
The fourth and final round of the KPMG Women’s Irish Open gets underway tomorrow at 8:10 local time at The K Club. The leaders will go out at 11:58. Watch the tournament live and follow all the action throughout the tournament on our socials – @LETgolf on Instagram, TikTok and X, and Ladies European Tour on YouTube and Facebook – #KPMGWIO
