No one was willing to concede
The Office Depot title to Karrie Webb today. Of course, no one was in position
to do much about keeping her from winning it.
Webb wasn't ready to claim
it herself, even though she has a seven-stroke lead with 18 holes to play at
the Ibis Country Club.
"I found out yesterday how
easy it is to make 9 on a hole," said Webb, who had a 9 on the par-5 fourth hole
on Friday but recovered to retain her lead. "I played pretty well today and I'll
try to do the same tomorrow."
Webb, the defending champion,
shot a 2-under-par 70 Saturday on the 6,323-yard Legend course to finish three
rounds at a 6-under 210.
Hall of Famer Nancy Lopez,
who shot 74, and Cindy McCurdy, who has one victory in 11 years on the LPGA tour,
were at 217. McCurdy had a 72. Lorie Kane, still looking for her first victory
in four seasons, had a 71 and was at 218.
Kelly Robbins, winner of
the LPGA's first tournament here in 1997, was the only player to break 70 Saturday,
her 69 giving her a 219 score for three rounds.
"Any round under par out
there today was respectable," Robbins said. "It's going to be tough tomorrow,
giving Karrie nine shots. There is just no room for error."
Added Lopez, 43, who has
won 48 LPGA titles, but none since 1997: "I'll just try to play my own game and
see what the golf course gives me. It will take an incredible score, but I've
done it before.
"She (Webb) is so strong
and so consistent and doesn't make many bad shots," Lopez said. "She drives the
ball so well and so straight. She sort of reminds me of myself when I was younger."
McCurdy was more upbeat.
"The only thing that scares
me is the wind and the golf course. There's nothing anyone else can do to beat
me," she said. "Sure, it will take some faltering by Karrie for the rest of us
to have a chance. But you never know what might happen if someone gets a hot
putter."
Webb birdied the second
and third holes to virtually remove the element of a contest from the third round.
Birdies at Nos. 9 and 17 offset bogeys at 12 and 18.
"The wind really made it
hard to play but I don't want to play too conservatively," she said. "In these
conditions, it can work against you.
"I want to continue to
be aggressive, play for the middle of the green most of the time, but if I like
the club and the lie, aim for the pin when I get a chance," Webb said. "I just
don't want to do anything stupid."
If Webb, a 25-year-old
Australian, doesn't falter, it will be the third time she has made a successful
defense in her brief career.
She won the Safeco Classic
in Kent, Wash., in 1996-97, her first two years on tour, and the Australian Ladies
Masters, an official LPGA tournament, in 1998-99.
It would also be her 17th
victory in just over four seasons.
Friday's wind out of the
north had moved around to the northeast Saturday, dropping slightly in velocity
to about 23 mph. The temperature had dropped into the 60s by day's end.
Korean Se Ri Pak, the rookie
of the year in 1998 after winning two major championships, was disqualified after
failing to sign her third-round scorecard. She shot 79 for 237.
