Green’s third round of four-under 68 was among the best of the day, Kupcho bolting clear of the field through 54 holes with a career-low round of eight-under 64 to be 16-under and six clear of defending champion Patty Tavatanakit (70), Jessica Korda (67) a further shot back at nine-under par.

Annie Park (73) is outright fourth at seven-under par with Green and fellow Australian Gabi Ruffels (71) part of a six-way tie for fifth at six-under par.

As Ruffels and Minjee Lee tried to consolidate their positions near the top of the leaderboard it was Green who made the most significant move on Saturday.

Starting her third round tied for 29th, the 25-year-old began with a birdie but had to wait another 14 holes to pick up her second.

That second came at the par-4 15th and when she added further birdies at 17 and 18 vaulted inside the top 10, hitting 13 of 14 fairways and taking just 28 putts to set up the possibility of a strong Sunday showing.

Without status on the LPGA Tour this year it shapes as a crucial day for Ruffels who also made positive progress on the leaderboard on Saturday.

The 21-year-old had birdies at six and 10 and a lone bogey at 17 in her third successive round under par as she seeks to add to her short but impressive history at Mission Hills.

Tied for 15th on debut in 2020 and tied for 19th 12 months ago, Ruffels can enhance her chances of further starts on the LPGA Tour in 2022 with a top-10 finish.

The Round 1 leader with Kupcho, Minjee Lee endured another difficult day on Saturday with her driver putting her under pressure from the tee.

Lee hit just six of 14 fairways in her third round of one-over 73 and fell to a share of 21st, 12 shots off the lead.