EVIAN-LES-BAINS, France >> Golf wasn’t the first love of Cara Gainer or Gabriela Ruffels, who grew up wanting to be professional tennis players and came close to making it.

TX Body: Now they’re in sight of becoming an unlikely major winner in their adopted sport.

Gainer, a No. 129-ranked Englishwoman, and Ruffels, a 71st-ranked Australian, will be in the final group at the Evian Championship on Sunday after powering through the field in the third round of the fourth major of the year in women’s golf.

On a glorious Saturday at Evian Resort Golf Club, Gainer shot 7-under 64 to move to 11 under for the week and was soon joined in the lead by Ruffels, who shot 66.

They’ve got plenty of high-quality company on the leaderboard, however.

No. 6-ranked Minjee Lee, the recent winner of the Women’s PGA Championship, shot 66 and was a stroke off the co-leaders in her bid to become the first woman since Inbee Park in 2013 to capture back-to-back major titles.

No. 2-ranked Jeeno Thitikul (67), who has yet to win a major, was tied on 10 under with Lee, along with second-round leader Somi Lee (71) and Grace Kim (70).

They’ll all be applying pressure on Gainer and Ruffels, who have kept a keen eye on the Wimbledon tennis championships taking place this week and finished their third rounds just before the start of the women’s singles final between Amanda Anisimova and Iga Swiatek.

They’ll no doubt be watching it.

“Tennis was, I guess, my first love,” said the 29-year-old Gainer, who tried her hand at golf for the first time at the age of 14 and quickly became a scratch handicapper. “I do still really enjoy it. I don’t really play anymore but I love to watch it. Obviously Wimbledon is on this week so that’s my evening.”

McIlroy hitting his stride and shares Scottish Open lead with Gotterup

Masters champion Rory McIlroy took another step toward emerging out of the doldrums with two big shots at the end of his round Saturday that led to a 4-under 66 and gave him a share of the lead with Chris Gotterup in the Scottish Open.

McIlroy kept in range of Gotterup on another gorgeous day of sunshine along the Firth of Forth and then came into everyone’s view in the middle of the back nine at The Renaissance Club.

Following a 15-foot birdie on the par-3 14th, his shot from a greenside pot bunker hit the pin for a tap-in par to keep his momentum. McIlroy was in trouble again on the par-5 16th; in just a horrible lie he could advance it only some 70 yards. With the wind at his back and wispy grass beneath the golf ball, he hit sand wedge from 173 yards to 10 feet for birdie.

Two closing pars put him at 11-under 199. That was enough to catch Gotterup, a big athlete with big power who had gone 34 holes without a bogey until the second hole Saturday. He fell into a tie with a three-putt from 60 feet for bogey on the 14th and failed to birdie the 16th.

Gotterup, who tied the course record with a 61 on Friday, had to settle for a 70. He will be in the last group with McIlroy.