Golf roundup
Sorenstam fires 66 to take 3-stroke lead in Samsung PALM DESERT, Calif. (AP) – The birdie putt found the heart of the cup to give Annika Sorenstam a three-shot lead at Bighorn, a course where she has never lost, and it all looked so routine.
Sorenstam sure didn’t feel that way.
Walking off the 10th green after her 12-foot putt Saturday in the Samsung World Championship, she offered a few polite waves to the gallery, turned and privately pumped her fist two times.
Going for her record sixth title in this elite tournament, and the 70th of her LPGA Tour career, Sorenstam shows no quit. She was mildly angry at herself for letting her attention waver in the third round, a fault that has kept her from being her best this year.
“I was trying to get myself going a little bit,” Sorenstam said after a 6-under 66, the best score of the week to build a three-shot lead over Lorena Ochoa. “My mind was wandering. I can’t focus long enough. I’m playing in a superb tournament, and all of a sudden I’m having a tough time concentration. I made that putt and I was like, ‘C’mon, you can do it. Stay focused.”‘
She held it together with consecutive birdies early in the third round to quickly build a lead. And this time, she made it last.
Sorenstam finished off her round with a 12-foot birdie on the 18th and was at 12-under 204, reviving her hopes of winning LPGA Player of the Year for the sixth straight season.
Leading the points-based race for player of the year is Ochoa, and she still holds all the cards.
The Mexican star rattled in a 20-foot birdie putt on the final hole for a 67 to finish at 207, giving her a spot in the final group with Sorenstam on Sunday.
“I’m going to need everything I have tomorrow,” Sorenstam said. “Lorena is having a fantastic year, a lot of momentum on her side. I know tomorrow I have to earn it, I have to post a low score.”
Sophie Gustafson got within one shot of the lead with an eagle on No. 12, but her momentum stalled and she shot 70 to finish at 208.
Michelle Wie waited until the 18th hole to get her first ruling of the day. Her tee shot came within a foot of going out of bounds, but she got free relief from a large scoreboard in her line of sight, hit her approach up to 25 feet and made the birdie putt for an even-par 72 that left her 14 shots behind at 2-over 218.
It was the seventh straight round on the LPGA Tour that the 17-year-old from Hawaii has failed to break par, her longest drought since she went 10 straight rounds at par or worse in 2003 at age 13.
“I’m not playing my ‘A’ game,” Wie said.
“I’m really grinding out there.”
Sorenstam, as usual, is playing on another level altogether.
In a three-way tie for the lead to start the third round, she set the tone early by hammering a drive so far on the 395-yard second hole she had only a sand wedge remaining to a pin cut far to the right.
She made a 20-foot birdie putt, then got up-and-down from behind the green on the par-5 third for birdie to build a two-shot lead.
She didn’t run away, but she never lost control. Her only mistake was a three-putt at No. 9, but Sorenstam answered that with a wedge into 12 feet for birdie on the 10th, and a private reminder to keep her head in the game.
Champions Tour
SPRING, Texas – Jay Haas birdied the final four holes for a 9-under 63 – matching his best round on the Champions Tour – and a five-shot lead after two rounds in the Administaff Small Business Classic.
After splitting time between the PGA Tour and Champions Tour last season, the 52-year-old Haas has played 19 tournaments on the 50-and-over tour this season and made only seven starts on the PGA Tour. The nine-time PGA Tour winner has three Champions Tour victories this year and five in only 31 career starts.
“I didn’t want to let go of the PGA Tour, but it’s to the point now that I ask why?” Haas said. “What else is there to accomplish?”
Haas, the Champions Tour rookie of the year last year, broke the Augusta Pines course record of 64 shared by Wayne Levi, Walter Hall, Doug Tewell and Larry Nelson.
“Today was quite a bit like yesterday,” Haas said. “I gave myself quite a few chances and I finished it off today. I felt in control from the start.”
Frys.com Open
LAS VEGAS – Daniel Chopra was the clubhouse leader at 15 under after an 8-under 64, and Charley Hoffman was 17 under with four holes to play when darkness forced the suspension of play in the third round of the rain-delayed Frys.com Open.
Hoffman, who began the day at 11 under, had just birdied his 14th hole when play was called. Troy Matteson, also 11 under to start, was 16 under through 12 holes.
Overnight storms that extended into the morning delayed the start by some 31/2 hours, and the tournament already had fallen behind schedule the previous day.
China Masters
SANYA, China – Defending champion Retief Goosen shot a 5-under-par 67, including an eagle and five birdies, to extend his lead to five strokes heading into the final round of the China Masters.
Goosen, a two-time U.S. Open winner, has a three-round total of 20-under 196 at the par-72 Yalong Bay Golf Club.
First-round leader Lu Wen-teh of Taiwan shot a 69 and to move into second place, one stroke ahead of 2005 U.S. Open winner Michael Campbell, whose up-and-down round of 70 included three bogeys and four birdies.
Goosen rebounded from an even-par first nine to eagle the par-5 13th hole from 20 feet. The South African sank a 15-foot birdie putt on the next hole before rounding off his day by draining a 40-foot putt for another birdie on 18.
“The (birdie) on 18 was kind of a lucky one,” he said. “I was trying to hit that close and it happened to go in. Sixteen was unbelievable. It felt like an eagle.”
Campbell, who was runner-up to Goosen at last year’s China Masters, admitted he is now a long shot to reverse that result this year.
“The putts weren’t going in. They kept shaving the holes on four or five occasions and it was pretty frustrating,” the New Zealander said. “Six behind Retief is a lot, but you know I need a good strong start tomorrow. Retief’s putt on 18 was like a final nail in the coffin. It was a good putt.”
Despite Campbell’s pessimism, Goosen refused to start celebrating.
“I’m not going to get ahead of myself,” said Goosen. “It’s not always easy playing with a big lead. Everyone expects you to win and it puts pressure on you.”
Scotsman Simon Dunn shot a 66 to move into fourth, seven strokes off the lead, while Thai teenager Chinarat Phadungsil had a 64 to share fifth with England’s Yasin Ali.
The 43-year-old Lu said while he’s all but given up on the title, he’s happy with his performance against the two major winners.
“I am satisfied with the way I played,” he said. “I didn’t think about chasing Retief or Michael. I just played my own game and see if I could learn from these two great players.”