Hurst hangs on to two shot lead

It's a good thing Pat Hurst is not rattled easily.

Hurst stepped to the first tee today with a six-stroke lead in the new Electrolux USA Championship and promptly carded a triple bogey. But she survived her horrible start to shoot an even-par 72 and hold a two-stroke lead over Karrie Webb.

"I had an 'oops' on that," Hurst said with a shrug. "Just because it happened on the first hole of my third round, I tried to be patient out there and not let it bother me."

Webb, the most successful golfer on the LPGA Tour this year with four victories, didn't waste the opportunity. She shot a 5-under 67 and pulled into second at 207. She has come from behind in nine of her 20 career tour victories.

"Everyone was probably a little shocked with that," Webb said of Hurst's triple bogey. "It gets you into a mindset where you feel like you can close the gap because she's already helped out a little bit."

Michele Redman (69) was at 208, with Juli Inkster (69) and Mhairi McKay (70) tied at 210. Six golfers were at 211.

Hurst, who led after each of the first two rounds, could hardly have started the third round any worse than she did on the par-4, 384-yard No. 1.

Her tee shot went off the fairway behind a mound, and she hit her second into knee-high rough. She took a one-stroke penalty and moved back from the rough for her next shot, which came up short of the green. Hurst chipped to about 10 feet, but missed her putt just right and wound up with the triple bogey.

After turning in just two bogeys over the first 36 holes, giving three strokes back on the first hole would have been an easy excuse to fall apart. Hurst, who says it takes a lot to anger her, agreed that it wasn't fun but that she decided to move on as quickly as possible.

"I knew there were a lot of holes left. I made plenty of birdies the last two rounds, that I could at least make birdies out there and one hole's not going to kill me," she said. "I tried to be patient out there and not let it bother me."

Hurst steadied herself after her bungled opening with three straight pars, and led by four strokes at the turn thanks to two birdies. She led by five briefly, after her round's final birdie on the par-4, 387-yard 11th hole, and parred the last seven holes.

Her triple bogey opened the door briefly.

Michelle McGann got within two strokes of Hurst with a hole-in-one on the par-3, 172-yard No. 3, using a 6-iron. But McGann stepped back on the next two holes with a double bogey and bogey.

Inkster started the round eight strokes behind Hurst and birdied three of her first six holes to get within two. She couldn't keep pace, though, bogeying No. 10 to fall to 5-under.

Only Webb consistently kept the pressure on. Trailing by seven strokes at the beginning of the round, the Australian overcame an early bogey with six birdies.

She bogeyed No. 3, then birdied three of the next four holes. A birdie at No. 13 and a tap-in birdie on the par-4 No. 15 pulled her within three strokes with three holes remaining. Webb could have tied for the lead except she barely missed long birdie chances on Nos. 16 and 17 before finishing the round with her final birdie.

"I like coming from behind. I've got nothing to lose," said Webb, who won a non-tour event last weekend in Japan and whose worst finish this year was a tie for fourth. "I'm not protecting a lead or anything like that, and I can play aggressive."

The idea of playing with Webb in the final round might intimidate some golfers. Not Hurst. She won the Nabisco Dinah Shore in 1998 paired with Webb and considers her a friend.

"She's the No. 1 player in the world," Hurst said. "I love to be put up to the challenge. I can't wait to step up on that first tee and start playing tomorrow and see where we go. Am I afraid? No. Am I excited? Yes."

DIVOTS: Janice Moodie became the eighth person to withdraw from this tournament for injury or illness. Moodie tried to play through a hurt wrist but withdrew before the third round after trying to hit some balls on the driving range.

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