Inkster extends lead to four

Juli Inkster and Annika Sorenstam will go head-to-head again on Sunday, only with the Samsung World Championship at stake instead of the Solheim Cup.

Inkster shot an inconsistent 3-under 69 on today at Hidden Brooke to lead Sorenstam by four strokes and Pat Hurst by six.

With the rest of the small, invitation-only field baffled by the course's hilly fairways and tricky greens, Sunday essentially will be a rematch of the singles match between Inkster and Sorenstam on the final day of last week's acrimonious Solheim Cup.

"I'm sure she's going to want revenge, but I can only control what I do,'' Inkster said. "If I play my 'A' game, I'll come out on top.''

Tension among the top Europeans and Americans in the Samsung field still lingers, though Inkster and Sorenstam describe themselves as friends.

In Scotland last week, the American players reduced the Swedish star to tears when they demanded she replay a chip shot. A day later, Inkster routed Sorenstam in their singles match.

"We haven't really talked about it too much," Sorenstam said of the Solheim Cup controversy. "Last week was a different type of competition and the atmosphere has really cooled down a little bit ... but not too much.''

The only clear winner at the World Championships so far is the undulating, Arnold Palmer-designed Hidden Brooke course. It has beaten most of the 20 golfers in the elite field, with only Sorenstam and Hurst even managing to get under par and within 10 strokes of Inkster.

After two days of wet fairways, Hiddenbrooke dried out on Saturday, but pin placements that Sorenstam called "the hardest I've ever seen'' kept the golfers frustrated.

"I could count on one hand the number of times I've had a flat lie this week," Sorenstam said.

Sorenstam recovered from a dismal second-round 74 with a tournament-low 66 today that put her at 7-under 209 after three days.

Inkster's adventurous third round included seven birdies, four bogeys, a wince-inducing double bogey and a spectacular eagle. A less adventurous performance Sunday could give Inkster, who's at 11-under 205 after three rounds, her 25th career victory and her third World Championship in four years.

"I'm going to need to be a little more consistent,'' she said with a grimace.

How strange was the round for Inkster, who had a three-stroke lead over Hurst entering the day?

Her final seven holes gave an indication: birdie, birdie, double bogey, birdie, birdie, bogey and a birdie on 18 that she punctuated with an awkward little dance that celebrated closure as much as a nice putt.

Inkster's day started with a bogey on the first hole and an eagle on No. 2, which she got by holing a tricky sand shot from a back bunker. She missed a 4-foot par putt on the fourth hole but birdied two of the next three holes - then erased that progress by three-putting the 10th.

"It was like I'd take two steps forward and two steps back," Inkster said. "I'll have to be better to win."

Sorenstam had six birdies and no bogeys after a poor second round that sent her to the practice tee for several hours Friday night. Her 35-foot birdie putt on the 14th was the highlight of her round.

"Mostly, I was just calming down,'' Sorenstam said of her practice time. "It just shows what a mental game golf is. I was so upset (Friday) because I played good, but I couldn't get the job done.''

Hurst, like Inkster a Bay Area native playing a short drive from the courses where she learned the game, had a double bogey on the fifth hole and spent the day trying to catch up. Her 72 left her at 5 under 211 for the $725,000 tournament, six strokes behind Inkster.

Player of the Year Karrie Webb shot a 70, her eighth straight round in the 70s over her last three tournaments. Webb, who took three weeks off to attend the Olympics in her native Australia and write a column for USA Today at the Solheim Cup, is 11 strokes behind Inkster at 216.

So is Canadian Lorie Kane, who started the day five strokes behind Inkster but made a double bogey on the first hole and never recovered in a 3-over round.

DIVOTS: Inkster, who was one of four leaders Thursday, could get her first wire-to-wire victory since the 1992 JAL Big Apple Classic. ... Inkster's two daughters followed her around the course and played with friends on a scooter in the clubhouse parking lot. Her husband Brian, a local club pro, is playing golf in Ireland and won't return home until Monday. ... Aside from Inkster and Hurst, the biggest galleries followed defending champ Se Ri Pak and Sorenstam. ... The players lifted, cleaned and placed their balls on the wet fairways the first two days, but it wasn't necessary today under sunny skies.

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