Australia's defending champion Minjee Lee has seized a three-shot following the third round of the LPGA Tour's Founders Cup in Clifton, New Jersey.
The world number six vaulted to the top of the leaderboard with a five-under-par 67, as fellow Australian Sarah Kemp crashed after enjoying a share of the halfway lead.
Relishing the tight fairways and firm greens at Upper Montclair Country Club, Lee reeled off four birdies and an eagle to soar to 12-under for the tournament.
Her nearest pursuers are American Angel Lin (68) and South Korean Hae Ran Ryu (70) at nine-under.
Australian rookie Grace Kim, a winner of her maiden LPGA Tour event in Hawaii last month, is continuing her great run to be joint seventh at seven-under with American Cheyenne Knight (71) following a third-round 68.
Kemp slipped back to a share of 13th place at five-under after backing up her second-round 65 with a disappointing three-over 75.
Another Australian, Steph Kyriacou, (73) is equal 19th at four-under.
Lee had not managed a top-30 finish in her previous seven LPGA Tour starts before finding form at last week's International Crown teams event in San Francisco.
She and Kemp teamed with Kyriacou and Hannah Green to power Australia to the final before losing to Thailand.
"I was pretty solid all day," Lee said of her third round in Clifton.
"I made a lot of birdies on the front and one eagle on the back and just made pars coming in, so I feel like I had a pretty good day."
Lee's Founders Cup victory last year kick-started a career season in which she added a second major at the US Open, won the Annika Award as women's golf's major player of the year and challenged for the world's top ranking.
She has been slow to get going in 2023, struggling to put four good rounds together, but is on the precipice of another important win ahead of her US Open defence at Pebble Beach in three weeks.
AAP
