Starting the third round at Riviera Country Club four strokes off the lead, Davidson was left to rue two poor holes on Saturday which have given her a six-stroke deficit to make up in Sunday’s final round.

World No.1 Nelly Korda (67) and major champion Sei Young Kim (68) share the 54-hole lead at 6-under; Davidson the best of the four Aussies to make the cut in a tie for 18th at even par.

The final player added to the field on Sunday night, the 27-year-old could have entered the final round well in contention if not for two double-bogeys on her back nine.

Moving into red figures with a two-putt birdie from just inside 20 feet at the par-5 first, Davidson made nine-straight pars before picking up another birdie at the par-5 11th.

Measuring a monster 590 yards, Davidson had 58 yards in for her third shot, holing her birdie putt from 12 feet to move to 2-under for the championship.

A 285-yard drive left Davidson just 113 yards in for her second at the par-4 12th, but one poor swing would result in disaster.

She missed her second shot into the right bunker and then left her first shot from the sand in the bunker. Her fourth shot went through the green into the rough on the opposite side, missing her 17-foot putt for bogey to drop back to even par.

Par putts from 10 and seven feet at 13 and 14 stemmed the bleeding somewhat, but another poor wedge after coming up well short with her second would lead to another double-bogey at the par-4 15th.

In danger of tumbling completely from contention, Davidson holed birdie putts from 19 feet at the par-3 16th and 17 feet at 18 to complete an even-par 71 as she seeks to better her tie for 47th at last year’s KPMG Women’s PGA Championship.

Three-time major champion Minjee Lee hit just seven greens in regulation in her four-birdie round of even-par 71 and will start the final round in a share of 34th.

Out in 4-over, Grace Kim played the back nine in 2-under to be 4-over for the championship and in a tie for 40th. Hannah Green’s eagle from 10 feet at the par-5 first was the highlight of her round of 4-over 75 to sit in a tie for 46th at 5-over.

Round 3 Australasian scores
T18 Karis Davidson 69-73-71 (213)
T34 Minjee Lee 69-76-71 (216)
T40 Grace Kim 72-72-73 (217)
T46 Hannah Green 70-73-75 (218)
MC Stephanie Kyriacou 70-78 (148)
MC Lydia Ko (NZ) 74-73 (147)
MC Sarah Hammett (a) 80-77 (157)

Round 4 tee times AEST
1:10am Hannah Green
1:50am Grace Kim
2:45am Minjee Lee
3:50am Karis Davidson