By Stuart Hall

Edina, Minn. - Helen Alfredsson has picked a fine time for her aging game to come together.

Having played nowhere near her expectations this season, she now finds herself on the cusp of erasing 15 years of U.S. Women’s Open angst and frustration.

Alfredsson, 43, cobbled together a 2-under 71 at Interlachan Country Club on Saturday to stand at 7-under 212 for the championship, tied with Inbee Park just two shots back of Stacy Lewis and one behind Paula Creamer.

"Obviously I haven't played anywhere near what I should be doing, what I feel," said Alfredsson, whose best showing of 2008 was a tie for 19^th at last week’s Wegmans LPGA. "I'm third in greens in regulation for the year, and that's a pretty good number. It means that you're hitting fairways and greens. Obviously the putting has been a little bit iffy so it's been a pretty steady year. I just haven't been able to show anything for it.

Helen Alfredsson finds herself two strokes behind leader Stacy Lewis heading into the fourth round. (John Mummert/USGA)

"But it's nice. It's nice to be able to play good in a U.S. Open because it's a big part of the game. You have to have every part of the game. You have to chip well; you have to do different things. It's not just about putting."

While Alfredsson ranks 43^rd in the field in putting this week, averaging 31 per round, she’s been an otherwise model of consistency around the 6,789-yard layout. She’s hit 69 percent of the fairways (tied for 29th) and 80 percent of the greens in regulation (tied for second).

Saturday, she was pleased with her ability to extricate herself from trouble during a round that featured four birdies and two bogeys.

"Pretty solid game," she said of her third round. "I made some putts and I was never really in trouble. Maybe I was a little more in trouble today than yesterday, but I was able to recover, which was nice."

On a youthful leader board, Alfredsson sticks out as the true veteran, having won 14 times internationally and five times on the LPGA, including the 1993 Nabisco Dinah Shore. Also, she has amassed seven Solheim Cup appearances and served as the 2007 European captain.

So Alfredsson hopes experience counts for something come Sunday.

Of the 12 players inside the top 10, Alfredsson is the oldest by 12 years, and is more than twice the age of six players. In fact, the two front runners, Lewis and Creamer, are a combined 44 years old.

Alfredsson admitted to just going home and heading to bed after Friday’s marathon day in which she finished at 9:15 p.m., and said tonight would be equally as low key.

"Hopefully experience has something to do with it," she said. "You can't sit and play tomorrow, because then you'll be exhausted tomorrow. I stay with some very nice people and good friends and that helps a lot."

In addition to not focusing on Sunday’s final round, she gives little thought to past disappointments in this championship. Not since 1993 and 1994, when she finished tied for second and ninth, respectively, has the Swede been this thick in the throes of contention.

In 1993, a year after winning LPGA Rookie of the Year honors, Alfredsson opened with a 68 to share the first-round lead at Crooked Stick Golf Club in Carmel, Ind. She then posted rounds of 70-69 to hold the outright 54-hole lead.

On Sunday, Laurie Merten birdied two of the final three holes to shoot 68 and then watched as those in front of her, including Alfredsson, slide back. Alfredsson ballooned with a 74 and finished a stroke back of Merten, tying for second with Donna Andrews.

A year later, Alfredsson opened with an 8-under 63 to lead by three strokes at Indianwood Golf and Country Club in Lake Orion, Mich. She held the 36-hole lead before shooting 76-77 on the weekend to tie for ninth, eight strokes back of Patty Sheehan.

"To be very honest I don't really think so much about it," said Alfredsson, who has not won since 2003. "I've been so close in this event and I've been very high and very low."

At the 1995 U.S. Women’s Open, Alfredsson reflected on the disappointment of the near misses of the previous two years. "You have to believe in something and I believe very much in destiny and fate and, particularly the 1993 U.S. Open, I mean, obviously, it wasn't meant to be for me."

Sunday just may be her time.

Stuart Hall is a freelance writer whose work has previously appeared on www.uswomensopen.com.