Lorena Ochoa finished with a 1-under 71 today and sits at -13 after 54 holes of golf. A double-bogey on the 16th hole cost Ochoa a commanding lead, but her one-stroke advantage has the top players in the world chasing her into the final round tomorrow.
The twenty-three year old Mexican superstar was three shots ahead of Soo-Yun Kang and seven strokes up on defending champ Annika Sorenstam at the 16th hole when her drive landed in a bush. As Ochoa, two marshalls and her caddie were searching for the ball, it rolled into view. Officials required Ochoa to re-drop the ball because they didn’t know whether or not the ball was moved by the search. She was penalized one stroke, took two more shots to reach the green and two-putted for her double bogey. Ochoa stated,”I’m happy with my round today. I think I got away with things a couple times today. I was swinging a little bit fast and hit the ball a couple of times to the right and just made a bad swing on 16 and hit it way left.”
Kang, currently alone in second place, tied Ochoa at the par-3 12th hole, where Ochoa bogeyed after not getting her ball up and down from the sand. At the 13th hole, a 552-yard par 5, Ochoa birdied the hole from 10 feet but Kang couldn’t convert and wound up three-putting from 16 feet, leaving Ochoa with a two-shot lead. Both Kang and Ochoa birdied the next hole but Kang’s putter let her down again and she two-putted. “At the beginning, I played very well, but at the ninth hole I missed a 2-foot birdie putt and after that I lost some confidence,” Kang said. “I’m satisfied with where I am right now.”
Annika Sorenstam had another odd day on the course. Although Sorenstam came out strong with a birdie on the first hole, she double-bogeyed the third but came back to birdie the ninth and the eighteenth. The two time defending champion from 2001 and 2004 finished with an even par 72. Annika remarked after her round, “Some of the breaks have got to go my way, I’ve got to make some putts, change some things, obviously go low, but I’ve done it before.”
Veteran Juli Inkster made a charge today with a 3 under 69 to move into 4th position. Rookie Brittany Linicome shot an impressive 66 to join Inkster at 8 under. Tour veteran Rosie Jones went 8 under to card an impressive 64, the lowest round of the tournament. Amateur Michelle Wie played a comfortable round finishing one over par.
Keep tuned to the Golf Channel for final round coverage of the Safeway International Tournament, being shown on tape delay from 8-10pm EST.
Pos Player Tot R1 R2 R3 Tot 1 Lorena Ochoa -13 65 67 71 203 2 Soo-Yun Kang -12 68 66 70 204 3 Annika Sorenstam -9 66 69 72 207 T4 Brittany Lincicome -8 71 71 66 208 T4 Juli Inkster -8 66 73 69 208 6 Rosie Jones -7 74 71 64 209 T7 Liselotte Neumann -6 70 70 70 210 T7 Siew-Ai Lim -6 65 72 73 210 T9 Gloria Park -5 72 69 70 211 T9 Candie Kung -5 69 70 72 211 T9 Grace Park -5 71 67 73 211
Photo Credit: © AP.