Australian Sarah Jane Smith carded a four-under-par 68 to move into the top 10 heading into the final round of the Navistar LPGA Classic being played in Prattville, Alabama.
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The Queenslander, who has not won on the LPGA, will have to chase down Rolex World No. 3 Stacy Lewis who leads at 15-under-par. Smith currently shares sixth position at 10-under-par.
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Lewis has opened up a two-shot lead over fellow compatriot Angela Stanford at the completion of the third round.
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The Rolex Rankings No. 3 shot a flawless round of 65, with seven birdies, to move to 15-under-par for the week. She will be in pursuit of her second victory in Alabama this season dating back to the Mobile Bay LPGA Classic, the first of her two victories on Tour this season.
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Lewis’s assault of the Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail continued on Saturday, where she carded five birdies – including four of the first five holes – on the front nine of Capitol Hill’s Senator Course to turn in 31. She added three birdies on the back nine to shoot 65 for the fourth time this season.
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“I think going into today I knew I needed to make birdies just the way the scores had been all day, and you don&apost know if you&aposre ever going to start off like that,” she said. “You can kind of hit it good warming up, but you never really know what you&aposre going to take to the course.”
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Another American, rookie Lizette Salas a further shot back of Stanford in third position. South Koreans Mi Jung Hur and Haeji Kang share fourth at 11-under-par. Smith shares sixth position with defending champion Lexi Thompson and South Korean Hee-Young Park.
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Katherine Hull is the only other Australian remaining in the field and is currently 56th position at two-under-par.