Ireland’s Rebecca Coakley put herself in an excellent position to claim her maiden Ladies’ European Tour title after a five-under-par third round of 67 moved her into a tie for second spot at the Randstad Open de France Dames today.

The 28-year-old Carlow-based golfer moved to nine under with 18 holes to play at Le Golf d’Arras, with Germany’s Anja Monke on the same mark after she carded a 68.

The pair are two shots behind 18-year-old South African Lee-Anne Pace after she shot an exceptional round of 65 to move to 11 under.

Coakley’s previous best was a tie for third spot three years ago at the Tenerife Open, where the Tour heads to after this week’s event.

Three straight birdies from the third helped Coakley go out in 33 shots. She would add four more birdies on the back nine, with bogeys at the 12th and at the par-five 18th.

Hazel Kavanagh, who had a career-best finish when she tied for third spot in Austria last week, fell back down the leaderboard today after a level-par 72 left her on three under.

Most of the damage came at the 18th, where she recorded a triple-bogey eight, undoing some fine early work that saw her make five birdies in the first 14 holes. Tara Delaney is also on three under after signing for a two-over-par 74