Playing in the second to last group, the LSU golfer got off to a blazing start on Saturday, making three birdies on the first four holes to move to 9-under for the tournament. Three bogeys on her inward nine before her strong finish on 18 led to an even par round of 71.
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"It (the start) helped a lot because I had a few bogeys in there," Lindblad told NBC. "On a few holes, I missed it on the fat side but didn’t quite hit the chip shot close so I had a little more trouble around the greens today but it was good to finish with that birdie on 18.” At 6-under, Lindblad is seven strokes behind 54-hole leader Minjee Lee, who shot a 4-under par 67 to stand at 13-under par 200. Mina Harigae is three back of Lee at 10-under.
Lindblad's playing partner, world No. 1 Jin Young Ko, had this to say about the young Swedes round on Saturday: "It was very impressive. She was playing with a high level of confidence, and looking at her, I kind of looked at myself when I was an amateur. I also was playing with a lot of confidence, and after turning pro I had to think about a lot of things.”
USC commit Bailey Shoemaker shot a 1-over 72 on Saturday and is tied for 24th place at 214 (+1). After carding a 1-under 70 in her third round, Japan's Saki Baba is part of a large pack tied for 31st place at 2-over 215. Rose Zhang of Stanford is at 5-over 218 following a 75 on Saturday.
Lindblad will again be in the second-to-last-group on Sunday in the final round at 11:12 p.m. PT. The television coverage will begin on USA Network at 10 a.m. PT on Sunday with NBC to pick up the coverage at noon.