Stephanie Meadow has given herself an outside chance of securing her maiden LPGA Tour title after second successive round of three-under 68 moved her to within four of the lead heading into the final round of the Palos Verdes Championship.
Meadow shares 12th place on four-under while Australia’s Hannah Green leads by the minimum on eight-under with Lydia Ko in second.
Meadow is just one-shot off third place and has an opportunity for her best finish of the season so far after sharing 10th place a few weeks ago.
It has been a great recovery from the Jordanstown native who opened her week with a two-over 73 and another round in the 60s might see her turn that recovery into a victory.
Meadow roared out of the traps moving to three-under through nine holes thanks to birdies on the third, seventh and ninth to turn in 33.
Perhaps the 30-year-old needed to go low on the back nine to get in and amongst the top of the leaderboard but she was unable to make any further ground with a level-par 35.
Still, another strong finish on Sunday evening would go a long way to ensuring there are no final day dramas in keeping her playing privileges.
Meadow has been working tirelessly on her game both on the range and in the gym and she has started to reap the rewards with a consistent run of form.
Meanwhile at the top, Hannah Green (-8)came back to the pack with a one-over 72 but she still holds the narrowest of leads over Lydia Ko.
The Aussie did well to post 72 after a nightmarish start where she was three-over after six holes. Green carded four bogeys in her opening eight holes but reduced the damage with an eagle on the par-5 7th and a birdie on 9 in what was an erratic front nine.
“Yeah, I got off to a horrendous start I guess you could say,” she said. “Just short-sided myself too many times today, so I was actually pretty happy with the 1-over score.
“Just hit a couple of funny wedge shots and also didn’t read the lies and the wind direction, so hopefully tomorrow I can do that a little bit better and like I want to do: hit more fairways and greens and less putts
Should she slip up on Sunday there are a host of big names waiting to pounce on five-under with Lexi Thompson, Inbee Park, Marina Alex, Megan Khang and Minjee Lee all lurking in the long grass in what is a nine-way tie for third.
Former LET player Gemma Dryburgh of Scotland is also part of the chasing pack on five-under after a 68.
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