Top-ranked Lorena Ochoa, seeking a third title in four years at her homeland LPGA event, fired a four-under par 69 Saturday to hold a one-stroke lead after 54 holes at the Corona Championship.
Defending champion Ochoa fired eight birdies but also had two bogeys and a double bogey in a roller-coaster third round to stand on 20-under par 199, one stroke better than Norway’s Suzann Pettersen, who fired a 67.
Overnight leader Ochoa opened with a birdie and gave back a bogey on the next hole, but sank back-to-back birdies at the fourth and fifth and three birdies in a row starting at the ninth.
PHOTO: REUTERS
A bogey at the 12th and double bogey on the par-three 14th sent Ochoa stumbling, but she regained her form with birdies at the 15th and 17th holes to finish atop the leaderboard.
Pettersen enjoyed a bogey-free day, her only bogey so far this week coming on the fourth hole of her opening round.
The European standout birdied the par-three sixth, eagled the par-five eighth and birdied the par-four ninth plus the 12th and 15th to stay on Ochoa’s heels.
She was unable to convert a short birdie putt at 18.
South Korea’s Choi Na-yeon was third on 204 with Americans Wendy Ward, Irene Cho and Morgan Pressel sharing fourth on 205.
Choi was delighted with her position.
“Today, I played really good,” she said. “I think everything that I made was really good today and it put me in a really good position for tomorrow in the final round.”
However, she said she wouldn’t change her focus just because of her position on the leaderboard.
“I don’t think the important thing is to win,” she said. “For me, I really just want to keep it rolling. I just have to trust in myself.”
Taiwan’s Yani Tseng was tied for seventh on 206 and compatriot Teresa Lu tied for 28th on 213.
■ZURICH CLASSIC
AFP, NEW ORLEANS
Jerry Kelly, a US veteran seeking his first title in seven years, fired a three-under par 69 on Saturday to stretch his lead to three strokes after the third round of the PGA Zurich Classic.
Kelly, who last won at the 2002 Western Open, led by one stroke after 36 holes and boosted the margin by finishing 54 holes on 13-under par 203, three strokes ahead of compatriot Steve Marino in the US$6.2 million event.
A bogey-free round for Kelly included birdies at the par-five second hole plus the par-four fifth and 15th holes.
Marino, by contrast, had a roller-coaster round that began with back-to-back birdies followed by a double bogey at the par-three third.
After closing his front nine with three birdies, Marino opened the back nine with a bogey but birdied 11 and 12. A birdie at the 16th was followed by a bogey at the par-five 18th.
“It came out real hot and went over the green,” Marino said of his bogey at the last. “That’s the last place you want to be.”
Sharing third on 207 were Australian Rod Pampling, South Korea’s Charlie Wi and Americans Aaron Watkins, John Rollins and Charles Howell. A pack of seven more players on 208 included South Africa’s Rory Sabbatini.
Pampling’s round was marred by a double bogey at 12.
“Trust me, I wasn’t very happy,” Pampling said. “You know, hitting a five-wood and the ball plugs, you’re never too happy after that. But I’d been playing good. I hadn’t made too many mistakes.”
Wi, who had held the first-round lead, said the wind made life tough.
“It’s very difficult with the wind conditions,” Wi said. “Especially on 17, you get it next to the water. And you make mistakes there.”
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