Rookie Madalene Sagstrom makes big-time move at KPMG Women's PGA Championship

OLYMPIA FIELDS, Illinois -- Madalene Sagstrom is in the middle of her rookie season on the LPGA Tour.

On Saturday, she placed herself in great position to make a run at her first major title on Sunday.

Sagstrom, 24, carded a bogey-free, 5-under 66 at Olympia Fields in the third round of the KPMG Women's PGA Championship to soar 34 spots up the leaderboard. When her round ended, Sagstrom's 5-under, 208 total had her tied for sixth and just three shots out of the lead.

The key to the 66, Sagstrom said, was what she was able to do on the greens. The Swede needed just 25 putts.

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"I've really, really putted awesome today," Sagstrom said. "I've been working hard on my putting this week. We've had out putting guy here. So I just really found the roll on the greens today. I made par when I needed to and made a lot of really good par saves and I made some birdies when I had the opportunities. I just took all of the chances I had, because I had a few, and I also saved when I needed to."

Sagstrom began her round with a birdie on the par-5 first hole. She also birdied holes 4, 8, 11 -- where she made a 30 footer -- and 14.

With six missed cuts this season in 11 starts, Sagstrom's play is a bit of surprise.

She did turn in her best career finish two weeks ago in the Meijer LPGA Classic, however, with a T4.

That high finish along with Saturday's fantastic round have Sagstrom excited about the possibilities for Sunday's final round.

"I mean, it feels good, obviously," she said. "It's my first year out here, so I'm trying to figure everything out and trying to see kind of where my game is at. I'm still going to work on some things because it's not all there, but it's just nice to see some results of all the hard work I'm putting down and just see that I can be up there."