Sweden’s Pernilla Lindberg led the ANA Inspiration for a third consecutive day after firing a two-under-par 70 at Mission Hills Country Club in Rancho Mirage, California, on Saturday.
At 14-under-par, the 31-year-old Oklahoma State University graduate from Bollnas is three strokes ahead of Amy Olson, a fifth year LPGA player from the United States.
Lindberg started the third round tied with Sung Hyun Park and was still tied after 12 holes, but starting from the 12th, the 2017 US Women’s Open champion dropped five shots in five holes, including a double bogey at the 15th, for a 74.
Lindberg birdied her first hole and made her first bogey of the championship at the fifth, but recovered with another gain at the eighth. When she birdied 14, she had built a four-stroke cushion over eight other players but Olson birdied the 18th for a 68 and outright second place.
Park is tied for third place, four-strokes from the lead, on 10-under-par, alongside English pair Charley Hull and Jodi Ewart Shadoff, who both shot 69s, Thailand’s Moriya Jutanugarn and Inbee Park, the 2016 Olympic gold medallist from South Korea.
Lindberg, who represented Sweden in the 2016 Olympic Games and tied for 31st place, is aiming for her first professional win in the season’s opening Major.
