Maja Stark could tell pretty early Saturday that Erin Hills would provide much more of a challenge than it had in the first two days of the U.S. Women’s Open.

Yet she found a way to avoid the mistakes that befell so many other competitors during a brutal third round. Now the 25-year-old from Sweden is in position to earn the $2.4 million prize in the biggest event of the women’s golf season.

Stark shot a 2-under 70 to give her a 7-under 209 total and a one-shot advantage heading into the final round Sunday. Julia Lopez Ramirez of Spain was second after a 68, the best score of the day.

“I think I’m just going to try to play freely,” Stark said. “I think that no one has ever played well when they’ve been playing scared, and I think that’s been my habit before, to just kind of try to hang on to it.”

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

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

“It’s so hard because they tend to put holes that are right on the edges of the slopes, so you can see going into the grain and up until the hole, and then after the hole you just see that the grain is going the other way,” Stark said. “It’s just so hard to get the distances right. It’s really scary when you know if you putt this five feet by, then that’s gone.”

The struggles of the field helped Lopez Ramirez make a surprising surge less than three months after an appendectomy.

Lopez Ramirez hasn’t finished higher than a tie for 29th in any of her seven LPGA Tour appearances this season, though the 22-year-old rookie was the Southeastern Conference player of the year in 2023 and 2024 at Mississippi State.

Saigo took a three-shot lead into the day but 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.

Korda also struggled early before coming on strong late. Korda had a 40 on the front nine with four bogeys and no birdies, but rallied with three birdies on her last five holes.

Scheffler takes control

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 Saturday 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.

“I don’t know what the scoring average was today, but I was definitely proud of the way I finished and it was really challenging,” Scheffler said. “Through 13 holes, I felt like I was playing really good and I was only even par. Just a hard course.”

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.

Scheffler was six shots behind Griffin at one point in the cool, blustery weather. He’s no longer chasing, and he’s a tough customer to track down.

Scheffler has won the last eight times when he held the 54-hole lead.