Samsung - 3rd Round

Lorena Ochoa and Suzann Pettersen are tied for the lead going into Sunday’s final round at the Samsung World Championship. Jeong Jang, Mi Hyun Kim and Angela Park are tied for third, one shot back at -11.

For awhile, it appeared my prediction of an exciting Sunday finish was going to get derailed. Ochoa took a four-shot lead at -13 when she birdied the 9th. None of the other contenders were making any kind of run despite the perfect scoring conditions. All this changed on the back nine. Lorena pushed a six-foot par putt to the right on 11 to fall back to -12. Kim birdied four times over the last seven holes. Park made two putts of 18-20 feet at 11 and 12 and birdied 18. Ochoa hit the pin with her third at the par-5 12th and made birdie to return to -13. Jang birdied 12, 16 and 18 to close out strong, but Pettersen outdid them all. Suzann birdied the last four holes to post 64. Her 20-footer at 16 was the only lengthy putt in that stretch as her irons to the other greens were deadly, leaving only two to six feet in each case. Ochoa was the only player in the top five to not birdie 18, and she bogeyed it to fall back to -12 and into a tie with Pettersen.

Any of those five could win it, and we should also include Paula Creamer in the contenders as she is only three shots back at -9. Angela Stanford shot a 74 to fall six shots behind, tieing Se Ri Pak and Jee Young Lee for seventh. Those three would have to go especially low to have any chance. Looks like I could have a complicated final-round recap to post tonight!