Tarzana — Sweden’s Ingrid Lindblad made five birdie putts in Saturday’s third round of the LPGA JM Eagle LA Championship at El Caballero Country Club, but Lindblad said the bogey putt she holed on the par-3, ninth hole was the biggest shot of her 4-under 68 round. After hitting her tee shot in the pond in front of the ninth green, Lindblad knocked her third shot 17 feet above the hole but found a way to knock the speed putt into the cup to save her bogey. Making the putt gave the rookie a boost of confidence heading to her back nine, where she birdied three of her next five holes, propelling her into a three-way tie with fellow rookie Akie Iwai and two-time LPGA winner Lauren Coughlin at 17-under 199. Ina Yoon, another rookie playing well this week, is two shots behind the leaders after an 8-under 64 that tied Iwai for the low round of the day. A group of three golfers, headed by World No. 1 Nelly Korda, will start the final round three shots back of the leaders. Korda made a charge on the back nine to get into prime position but finished her round with a bogey on 18. As she surveyed the bogey putt, Lindblad remembered having several similar putts the day before from that distance, and both were very quick. “When I walked around the hole and I saw how quick it was,” Lindblad said. “I saw right away what the putt would do. I was like, if I just start this online with good speed it’s going to go in. I was very happy that putt hit the hole. I had decent looks on 8 and 10, but both were very breaking putts which were a little bit harder to make, so I was very happy to get that putt rolling in on 9.” Coming off a 9-under 63 in round two, Lindblad was hoping to keep her scoring momentum going on Saturday, but she opened her round and only managed to shoot even par for the first nine. But despite her lack of experience on the LPGA Tour, Lindblad managed to keep her cool and not try to force anything, knowing there were birdie opportunities on the back nine, where she shot four under to push herself back to the top of the leaderboard. “On the front nine, I was looking at the leaderboard and I’m like oh, we’re not leading anymore,” Lindblad said, “I was like, all right, we got a couple more holes to go. We can still make some birdies to get up there. Sometimes I feel like it’s better to chase a little bit versus being the one who is being chased. It’s pretty cool. I’ve been watching LPGA for a lot of years and then suddenly your name is up there.” Coughlin, who fired a 6-under 66 on Saturday, did the bulk of her scoring early in the round, making birdies on four of the first five holes. But as the round progressed, Coughlin felt her game slipping a bit, particularly on the greens, where putts that had been dropping earlier suddenly weren’t. “I felt like I was hitting good putts, but they weren’t dropping,” Coughlin said. “I hit a couple that weren’t good, too, like the one on 9, a 10-footer, that I left short. I think I just got a little quick, and then we got put on the clock (for slow play for the last couple holes. After that, I feel just tried to steady myself and not get too quick. I made a good par save on 14, a good par save on 15, and I think that steadied it a little bit.” Over the past year, Coughlin has played some of the best golf of her life, including winning her first two LPGA titles in 2024. She also finished runner-up at the Match Play event two weeks ago. Seeing how low the scoring was over the first two rounds, Coughlin was hoping to get to 18 under by the end of Saturday’s round, but missed by a shot. She knows if she wants to win another LPGA title, which would be her first win on United States soil, she will need to go low. “With the par-5s on this course, you easily can shoot 4- or 5-under without doing too much, so I think it’s easily going to take that and probably something more,” Coughlin said. “I’m just going to go and try to keep doing what I’ve been doing and try to stay in my bubble and not worry about what else is going on out there and see where it puts me at the end of the day.” Iwai started the third round a little farther back than both Lindblad and Coughlin, but an eagle on the first hole jump-started her round. While she only managed to shoot three under on the front nine, she opened her back nine with three straight birdies and closed by making birdies on 16 and 17, giving her an 8-under 64 and a spot in the final group on Sunday. When she hit her approach shot on the first hole, Iwai actually thought he hit it too far, and because it is an elevated green, she only knew it landed close to the hole when the crowd gave a loud cheer. The strong approach shot on the first was the first of many nice iron shots throughout the round. She said she stuck many of her second shots close to the pin, giving her the ability to go low. Iwai played the third round with her twin sister Chisato, and while Akie said playing with her younger twin, she was born a minute before her sister, she said when they are on the course, she views her sister as just another competitor. Earlier this year, Iwai finished second at the LPGA tournament in Thailand, where she finished at 27 under and won $158,000. “I want to win at least one tournament this year. Not only majors but also regular tournaments,” Iwai said. “But my dream I want to win a major and to play final group with Chisato.”