Lytham St. Annes, England (My Sportsbook) - Catriona Matthew posted an impressive one-under 71 on Saturday to grab sole possession of first after the third round of the Women's British Open.

Matthew, an overnight co-leader, finished 54 holes at four-under 212 and is three clear of Christina Kim at Royal Lytham and St. Annes.

Kim birdied the last for her 71.

Defending champion Jiyai Shin fired the low round of the day on Saturday with a four-under 68. She vaulted into a tie for third place with last week's Evian Masters winner Ai Miyazato, who posted a 70 in round three, at even-par 216.

Mika Miyazato (69) and Song-Hee Kim (74) are knotted in fifth at plus-one.

Paula Creamer, still in search of her first major title, carded a two-under 70 and is tied for seventh place with Shinobu Moromizato (71), Jane Park (72) and Kyeong Bae (74) at two-over 218.

Michelle Wie will now need an historic Sunday if she is to get win No. 1, major No. 1 or the final automatic spot on the United States Solheim Cup team. She shot a two-over 74 on Saturday and is tied for 30th place at plus-seven.

Wie never truly recovered from a double-bogey six at the fourth hole. She netted two birdies and two bogeys the rest of the way.

Wie needed to win this championship to get the final automatic spot for Beth Daniel's Solheim Cup team. It is possible that Daniel could use one of her captain's picks on Wie Sunday after the teams are finalized.

World No. 1 Lorena Ochoa had an even-par 72 on Saturday, but that didn't allow her to make any move. She is tied for 35th at eight-over 224.

That puts Ochoa a 12 shots behind Matthew.

The Scotland native began the third round tied for the lead with Giulia Sergas at three-under par, but Matthew did not get off to the type of lead one expects from a leader.

She bogeyed the third and fourth holes to fall down the leaderboard, but a birdie at the par-three fifth brought her back to two-under par for the championship.

That birdie kept Matthew in the lead. Several players matched her there throughout the round, but all eventually stumbled down the back nine.

That's where Matthew made her move.

She birdied the 10th and 13th, a hole she's birdied each round this week. Matthew now found herself four shots clear thanks to four dropped shots in four holes by Bae and an equally bad fall by Sergas.

The Italian racked up three bogeys and a double-bogey in five holes from the 12th. That all but knocked Sergas out of contention, then Ai Miyazato tumbled with bogeys at 12 and 14.

All of these problems for the field and Matthew just held her ground.

She parred 14, 15 and 16, then hit a spectacular approach inside five feet at the demanding 17th. Matthew missed the birdie putt, but holed one from a similar length for par at the last to take a three-shot lead into the final round.

"Obviously I'm trying to stay relaxed," said Matthew, who had her second child not three months ago. "It was difficult out there. I was trying to stay out of the bunkers and have a par putt on every green. Obviously it's great being ahead but there's a lot of work to be done tomorrow."

If Matthew can convert her fifth third-round lead on the LPGA Tour into her third victory, it will be her first major title. She can become the first Briton to win a major since Karen Stupples at this championship five years ago.

"I feel like I have a really good chance here," acknowledged Matthew. "I hit seven or eight greens on the back nine and if I can go out there and do that tomorrow, I'll have a good chance."

Sergas shot a six-over 78 and fell into a tie for 11th at plus-three.