Wegmans LPGA – 3rd Round

Suzann Pettersen carries a three-shot lead into the final round of the Wegmans LPGA. Morgan Pressel, Inbee Park and Eun-Hee Ji are tied for second at -11 while Hee-Won Han and Ai Miyazato are tied for fifth at -9, five shots out of the lead.

The round was delayed by a thunderstorm for about an hour and forty-five minutes at the worst possible time, giving ESPN2 only about 25 minutes of live action today. Makes for a short highlight reel. After resuming about 4:15 EDT, Pettersen led by only one going to the last two holes but birdied both to open up the three-shot span. Ji blitzed the course for a career-best 64 – six birdies and a hole-out eagle at #1 made that possible. Han also put up 64, thanks to six birdies in a seven-hole stretch to start the back nine. Park kept herself in the 60s for the third straight day and has only bogeyed once in the first 54 holes. Pressel took her first bogey of the event at 6 but couldn’t get aboard the birdie train she was riding the first two days, posting 71. Miyazato was also unable to continue her earlier success – a bogey at 18 was particularly disappointing as it also brought her in at 71.

During the telecast, they mentioned that the average score today was about half a stroke under par. From the numbers I’ve seen, that is an unusual occurrence at Locust Hill. Anybody who couldn’t make birdies today lost a lot of ground to the lead and even those who posted 68 or 69 didn’t make up much. This includes Lorena Ochoa, whose 68 only maintained her eight-shot deficit. The good news for Lorena (along with the others at -6) is that only nine players are in front of her – the six already mentioned, plus Jeong Jang, Cristie Kerr and Helen Alfredsson.

They will be playing in threesomes off of 1 and 10 tomorrow, beginning at 9am with the last group starting at 11:01. Must be expecting more rain later in the day. The ESPN coverage from 2-4 will probably be tape-delayed because of the early tee times.