Moving Day turned out to be Maintaining Day at the 8th U.S. Senior Women’s Open. With threatening weather moving up tee times, and eventually stopping play twice, simply holding your ground at Barton Hills Country Club in Saturday’s third round was good enough to climb the leaderboard. But Maria McBride was better than that.

The long-hitting Swede had the best round of the day by far, posting a 6-under-par 66, marred by only a single bogey. She goes into Sunday’s final round at 7-under-par 209, four strokes better than defending champion Becky Morgan and 2021 winner Annika Sorenstam at 3 under par.

The only other player under par is Catriona Matthew, who is at 2-under-par 214 after an even-par 72 in the third round. Patricia Meunier-Lebouc, whose 68 was the only other round in the 60s, Michele Redman and Jackie Gallagher-Smith are at 216 with Karrie Webb at 217.

“Well, actually I played really well yesterday, too,” McBride said about the 70 she shot Friday. “I made a lot of birdies yesterday, so that's kind of what I brought with me today. Overall, I'm just playing really well, getting my yardage great into the flag, and obviously with the [weather delay] break we had today, the greens softened up a little bit, so trying to make sure we don't play too hard shots to get too much spin, but I'm just, yeah, just playing very solid.”

The interruption of the more than three-hour weather delay aside, Barton Hills played tougher in the third round mostly for this reason: It was the weekend at a USGA championship and that brings with it a special kind of pressure.

How special was the 66 by McBride? It was 10 strokes below the course average for the day. McBride, who is leading the field in driving distance at 256 yards, 15 yards better than anyone else, was T-4 at San Diego Country Club last year despite a 78 in the final round that included a 9 on a par-5.

“It's great,” McBride said about being in contention again. “I was in there last year, too, and just had a really bad hole. That kind of messed everything up. I'm really excited to be there again this week and this year. You know, hopefully I can keep going.”

The round began with Redman three strokes ahead of Webb, Sorenstam and Morgan. But when the horn sounded at 10:29 a.m. with the final threesome on No. 5 green, McBride was tied for the lead at four under par with Redman and Sorenstam.

When play resumed after the 3 hour 14-minute weather delay, McBride continued her hot play while the final threesome had trouble getting back into the swing of things. Webb made a double bogey on No. 6 when her second shot found the water while Sorenstam and Redman both bogeyed No. 7.

While McBride turned in 33 and then birdied Nos. 10 and 11 to get to 6-under par, Redman and Webb both shot 40 on the front nine, falling to 3-under par and even par respectively, and Sorenstam had a 37 to also be at three under. Morgan, who was 3-over par on her round before the rain delay, turned in 38 but eagled the par-5 tenth hole to move into second place at 4 under par before finishing at three under par after a 73.

Before the weather delay, second-round leader Redman needed 12 strokes to play Nos. 2 and 3 combined, struggling with a pair of bunker shots, and fell from 7-under par to 4 under. She finished with a 79 on Saturday. Sorenstam made a birdie and a bogey to maintain her position and ended up with a 73. Webb slipped a stroke behind with a three-putt bogey on No. 4 on her way to a 77.

The only other player in the hunt who made a move was Meunier-Lebouc, who finished the front nine with three consecutive birdies for a 33 and shot 68 to be at even par, seven strokes back.

“Today really a bogey-free round is amazing,” said Meunier-Lebouc. “I had a few really good saves from around the green. Yeah, I'm just very proud of myself because, you know, I don't play much golf anymore. I really got ready for this tournament with no expectations, and I think that's the best, always the best, mindset anyway and staying in the moment and playing every shot as it comes, and doing good so far.”

But coming up is a day of great expectations. On Saturday, Barton Hills bared its teeth and those in the hunt can expect more of the same on Sunday. And then there is that special added pressure: It will be the final round of a USGA championship.

NOTABLES

Maria McBride's third round 66 tied the second-lowest round in championship history. It was the fifth 66 recorded in championship history, the first since Pat Hurst during the final round in 2024 at Fox Chapel Golf Club.
McBride's 66 tied the lowest third round score in championship history, tying Laura Davies (2018 at Chicago Golf Club) and Trish Johnson (2019 at Pine Needles Lodge & Golf Club)
Patricia Meunier-Lebouc recorded the second bogey-free round of the week Saturday, shooting a 4-under 66 to move to T-5. Annika Sorenstam shot a bogey-free 4-under 68 on Thursday.
Becky Morgan will play in the final group tomorrow for the second-straight year.
Catriona Matthew is the only player in the field to shoot par-or-better in all three rounds (72-70-72).

McBride Takes Lead Into Final Round at Barton Hills

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