ERIN, Wis. >> Maja Stark shot a 2-under 70 and avoided the mistakes that befell other contenders Saturday to take a one-stroke lead into the final round of the U.S. Women’s Open at Erin Hills.

The 25-year-old from Sweden had a 7-under 209 total. Julia Lopez Ramirez of Spain was second after a 68, the best score of the day.

The Japanese trio of Rio Takeda (70), Hinako Shinobu (72) and second-round leader Mao Saigo (75) followed at 5 under. Top-ranked Nelly Korda was 4 under after a 73.

Saigo took a three-shot lead into the day but slumped as Erin Hills proved much tougher for the entire field than it had seemed the last couple of days.

Saigo made three straight bogeys at Nos. 4- 6 to drop into a tie for first. She made an 8 1/2-foot birdie putt on No. 12 to move back into sole possession of the lead, but Stark tied her with a 21 1/2-foot birdie on the par-3 16th. Saigo then bogeyed the last two to fall two back.

Speedier greens and tricker pin placements wreaked havoc with just about everyone on the course, leading to plenty of double bogeys and triple bogeys.

The most notable example of this came on the par-4 15th, when Esther Henseleit’s eagle putt from 55 feet away rolled 90 feet beyond the hole and went into the rough. Henseleit ended up with a double bogey.

Plenty of other contenders faced similar misfortune.

A Lim Kim, who entered Saturday in a six-way tie for second place, birdied No. 1 to get to 6 under, then went 7 over for the next four holes. Kim bogeyed No. 2, double-bogeyed No. 3, triple-bogeyed No. 4 and bogeyed No. 5. She ended up with a 77.

Scheffler surges into lead at the Memorial >> Scottie Scheffler was at his best on a tough day at Muirfield Village, opening with 13 straight pars and then pouring it on at the end for a 4-under 68 that gave him a one-shot lead over Ben Griffin at the Memorial.

Scheffler birdied four of his last five holes, finishing with a birdie from just inside 15 feet. He took the lead when Griffin missed a 3-foot par putt on the final hole.

At stake for Scheffler is a chance to win for the third time in his last four tournaments and join Tiger Woods as the only back-to-back winners at the Memorial.

The scoring average for the 57 players who made the cut was 73.9, and three players failed to break 80. Scheffler, the only player to break par all three rounds, was at 8-under 208.

Griffin, who won last week at Colonial, made five birdies and five bogeys over his last 13 holes.