Wegmans – 3rd Round

Lorena Ochoa (-9) posted a 67 to take the lead going into the final round at the Wegmans LPGA (which does NOT have an apostrophe in its name). Rookie In-Kyung Kim is in second place at -8 after her round of 71. Cristie Kerr is at -5 in third place while Mi Hyun Kim, Angela Stanford, Lindsay Wright and A.J. Eathorne are tied for fourth at -4.

Since no one else is within three strokes of first place, it appears the winner will most likely come from the final group – either the best player in the world or a 19-year-old rookie whose best finish was a tie for fourth at the Corning four weeks ago. Anything can happen, of course – especially with Kerr and Peanut lurking.

With very little wind, the scoring was almost two strokes better than Friday. Stanford looked like she was taking charge when she birdied 10 and 11 to get to -9 and take a two-shot lead. The lead disappeared when she bogeyed 13, 14 and 16 and she came completely unravelled at the par-5 17th. She yanked her tee shot left, took two pitch shots to get back in the fairway, missed the green left with her fourth, stubbed her first chip short and then wound up two-putting for a double-bogey 7. Ochoa basically bided her time until she got to 17. She tapped in for birdie there after easily reaching the green in two and at 18 she fired one of her patented short irons to about three feet, then rolled in the birdie to finish at -9. I.K. did bogey 13 but scrambled well enough to stay close and then sank the only real lengthy putt I saw, a 15-footer for birdie at 17. Lady Luck was with her as well – her tee shot at 18 was going left into the gallery but some guy’s ankle got in the way and the ball ricocheted back into the fairway. She flew just over the green with her approach but managed to save par with a 4-footer.

I must give a shoutout to TC’s favorite, Moira Dunn. She’s at -1, tied for 15th place. Another 71 tomorrow and she may have her first Top 10 of the year.