CHASKA, Minn. — Alison Lee put herself in position to secure her career-best finish in the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship on Saturday, carding a 4-under 68 in the third round at Hazeltine National Golf Club despite battling a painful neck ailment.

The 31-year-old American sits at 7-under through 54 holes, leaving her only four strokes behind tournament leader Haeran Ryu heading into Sunday's final round. The performance highlights a recent impressive stretch of golf for Lee, who has excelled since returning to competitive action following the birth of her first child, Lev,i last year.

In seven starts this season, Lee has made five cuts and secured two top-three finishes, tying for third at the Mizuho Americas Open in May and tying for third alongside playing partner Lilia Vu at the Dow Championship earlier this month. While she missed the cut in the first major of the season at The Chevron Championship, she bounced back with a T14 finish at the U.S. Women’s Open presented by Ally at Riviera Country Club.

But Lee’s resilience as an LPGA Tour veteran was tested heavily during Saturday's round as she played through the physical discomfort.

"I feel like my game is in a really good place," Lee said. "I'm not going to lie. Before the round, I had a little bit of a kink in my neck, so I had to take a lot of Advil before the round.

"But I feel like I held on pretty good, especially the last few holes when it felt like I couldn't quite get to my finish with the pain in my neck, which is probably what I get for playing four weeks in a row. My body is just falling apart."

Despite the sore neck, Lee proved once again that she is capable of grinding through adversity on day three in Minnesota. She jumped out to a fast start on Saturday, making birdies on the par-5 third and par-4 fifth holes. After dropping a shot on No. 7, she answered with consecutive birdies on Nos. 8 and 9 to make the turn in 33. She then carded two bogeys on the back nine but erased that damage with a birdie and an eagle.

"I feel like my game has been in a really good place the last few months," Lee said. "I feel like I do really well at tough courses, especially with tough conditions, since I'm striking the ball really well. So just tried to use that to my advantage today."

The afternoon also brought a few adjustments to Lee’s game plan, most notably at the 16th hole, where officials moved the tee markers forward, making the par 4 play to 240 yards. Lee admitted the setup change caught her a touch by surprise and that she might’ve been a little unprepared to play that hole at such a short yardage.

"I actually didn't hit a shot from the up tee in the practice round. I probably should have," Lee said. "But I wasn't sure if we would be up there 100 percent. To be honest, in our yardage book, that tee box isn't in there. I know that we teed off from up there the last time we were here. So, it was just a bit of confusion, which is why I didn't hit one from there."

Despite the lack of preparation, Lee still managed to knock her tee shot to 16 inches and tap in for eagle, a late two that helped her climb to 7-under for the tournament and move into the conversation to win both her first LPGA Tour event and first major championship on Sunday at Hazeltine.

“From what I can see, it's going to be very windy tomorrow. I think it'll be pretty tough,” said Lee. “Even today, the first few holes played really tough, in my opinion. Every single day, I feel like the wind has kind of been a little bit different, so regardless of what we did in our practice round, it's a little bit new. You're hitting a new club into the hole. It plays a little bit differently. Tomorrow, I feel like I'm going to have to, depending on the wind, try and play smart.”

Lee is paired with Netherlands native Dewi Weber and three-time LPGA Tour winner A Lim Kim. They tee off on No. 1 at 9:14 a.m. in the final round of the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship.

Grinding Through Pain: Alison Lee Lurking Near Lead After 54 Holes at Hazeltine

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