Eileen, Wisconsin - Maja Stark can tell earlier Saturday that Erin Hills will offer more challenges than the two days before the U.S. Women’s Open.

However, she found a way to avoid the mistakes of many other competitors in the brutal third round. Now, the 25-year-old from Sweden can earn $2.4 million in the biggest match of the women's golf season.

Stark scored 2 with 70, giving her a 7-shot below 209 and gained a shooting advantage in the final round of Sunday. Spain's Julia Lopez Ramirez ranked second after 68, the best score of the day.

“I think I’m just trying to play freely,” Stark said. “I don’t think anyone plays well when they play, and I think it’s my habit, just want to stick with it.”

Rio Wudashi (70), hinako Shibuno (72) and second round leader Mausago (75) are under 5 years old. The highest ranking Nelly Korda is under 4 after 73.

The faster greens and trickier pin positions cause damage, and nearly everyone is in the course, resulting in a lot of double cypress and triple taboos.

An example is on the 4th face 15, when Esther Henseleit's Eagle Putt rolled 90 feet from a distance of 55 feet from the hole and went into roughness. Henseleit ended up getting a double bogey.

"It's hard because they tend to put the hole on the edge of the slope, so you can see the grain going into the grain and going down the hole until it's through, and then behind the hole, you'll just see the grain going on the other side," Stark said. "The right distance is hard. When you know if you're pushing those five feet down, that's gone, it's really scary."

The struggle in this field helped Lopez Ramirez cause a surprising surge in less than three months after appendectomy.

Lopez Ramirez hasn't surpassed the tie in any of the seven LPGA Tour appearances this season, although the 22-year-old rookie is SEC Player of the Year at Mississippi State in 2023 and 2024.

"I do believe that obviously when you go to college, you're going to win an event and you're going to feel the same nervousness," said Lopez Ramirez. "That's what you care most about at that moment. You just want to win that game."

Saigo took a three-stroke lead in the day, but entered the tie with three bogeys in the 4-6th straight. She made an 8 1/2-foot birdie putt on 12th to return to the lead only possession, but Stark tied her in the 21 1/2-foot birdie at 16. Viniko then fell two of the last two bogeys.

She said the position of the pins caused the biggest problem on Saturday.

"The first thing I'm thinking about a break and then refresh tomorrow (out) and I want to start from scratch," Sigo said through an interpreter.

Many other competitors face similar misfortunes.

A Lim Kim, who entered second place with a six-line tie on Saturday, finished sixth and then scored seven times in the next four holes. Kim Bogeyed ranked second, No. 3 double ship, 4th triple ship and 5th bogeyed. She ended up with 77 points.

Jinhee Im had two of the first three holes, reaching six before the 4th of the three-four 4. NOH also ranked under 6 before the 3rd place double bogey. I ended up with 79 and Noh shot 75.

Corda had 40 bogeys in the first nine games, without birdies, but gathered with three birdies in her last five holes.

"It's just a golf course, you probably won't hit it in the right position, and it'll drop 40 feet instead of almost turning on the speed, but now you have a 40-foot chip that can run from the back as well," Corda said. "You just know your mindset is that you're going to make a mistake, but you can bounce here as well."