While world No. 1 American Nelly Korda is still dominating the race for the Gold medal with a three-shot lead at the top, Green is tied-third and will start the final round just five shots from the lead. 

The 24-year-old Perth star shot a four-under par 67 today that puts her at overall 10 under par. She had five birdies and her only bogey came at the par-three fourth hole where she hit the green in regulation but three-putted from long range. 

The only players ahead of her are Korda at 15 under and India’s Aditi Ashok (12 under), while New Zealander Lydia Ko, Japan’s Mone Inami and Denmark’s Emily Kristine Pedersen joined Green at 10 under through 54 holes. 

Green holed a curling, difficult three-metre putt to save par at the last that she described as “huge” for purposes of momentum. 

She walked down the 18th hole wearing one of the ice vests that the Australian players have used in the last two days in the excruciating heat and humidity of Kasumigaseki. 

“It’s a preventable thing. I want to make sure that I make it tomorrow. Every day I’ve worn it thinking about the rest of the week, not necessarily in the moment.” 

Tomorrow, she plans on cleaning up some of her errors after her superb putting rescued her during the third round. 

“I just want to try and play as boring a golf as possible. I want to hit every fairway and every green and give myself the best opportunity to make birdie.’’ 

As for the dynamic Korda, Green was not about to bow down. “She’s the one that probably has the most pressure. Been leading the tournament for the last couple of days. She obviously had a great round yesterday. It’s hard to back it up. I’m just happy that I managed to shoot under par again and hopefully I can keep the momentum for one more round.” 

The second Australian in the field, world No. 7 Minjee Lee, had a disappointing third round of two over par and is out of the running for medals in a tie for 34th place. 

Play will begin earlier tomorrow at 6.30am because of forecast storms that have threatened to reduce the tournament to a three-rounder. But International Golf Federation officials believe they can squeeze in the final round tomorrow even if there are some interruptions. 

If the final round happens to be called off, Green is in a good position having locked in third. Whether the four players who are tied-third would have to endure a sudden death playoff for the bronze medal remains to be seen. 

But it is an exciting opportunity for Green, who could become the first Australian to win an Olympic medal in golf. 

Martin Blake