Mallon & Han move clear of field

Meg Mallon was smiling that smile golfers beam when they close a round with four straight birdies.

Half of those were almost eagles as she burned the edge of the cup twice.

"Those are easy putts to make when you say, `Excuse me, may I finish?' I love that," Mallon said Saturday after a 6-under 65 left her tied with Hee-Won Han for the third-round lead of the LPGA Big Apple Classic at Wykagyl Country Club.

They are by themselves at the top of the leaderboard. Cindy Figg-Currier, who started the round tied for the lead with Han, had a 73 and was alone in third, five strokes back.

"It really just should be the two of us," Mallon said looking ahead to Sunday's final round. "That should be fun. This is what you play for, what you love."

Mallon will be trying for her 15th career win. Han is looking for No. 1.

It almost came at this tournament last year when she lost to Gloria Park in a one-hole playoff after missing a 6-foot birdie putt on the 72nd hole that would have won it in regulation.

Han birdied the 18th hole Saturday to cap a 68 that left her tied with Mallon at 11-under 202.

Han said she didn't think about last year as she was building a three-shot lead Saturday or as she tied Mallon with the long 2-putt for birdie on 18.

"My putter was good," said Han, who had three birdie putts of 12 feet or longer, including a 35-footer on the par-5 15th that gave her the three-shot lead. "It's OK, a 3-under round."

Mallon's brush with the eagles came in the middle of the four-birdie burst.

Her tee shot on the 164-yard, par-3 16th almost went in, and her second shot from 114 yards on the par-4 17th stopped two turns from going in.

"Yesterday I didn't make putts and I decided today I had to hit it close and I did," Mallon said. "I started out hot and finished hot, which is nice."

Mallon, who opened the round with two birdies, had another on No. 8 to get to 7 under. She then made six straight pars before her closing stretch wiped out the three-stroke lead Han had with three holes to play.

Han had a three-putt bogey on 16 to fall to 10 under, but she got that back with the two-putt birdie from 60 feet on the par-5 18th.

First-round leader Mi-Hyun Kim had a 71 and was at 208.

Beth Daniel was alone in third to start the third round, two strokes behind the leaders. She was at 6 under and one stroke out of the lead after seven holes Saturday, then had consecutive double bogeys to fall out of contention.

The 46-year-old Daniel, who became the LPGA Tour's oldest champion last week when she won the Canadian Women's Open, had a bad drive on each of the par-4s that led to the 6s. She had a 75 and was at 2-under 211.

"I didn't hit it very well and I didn't putt very well," Daniel said.

She was asked if this was a round a golfer just has to put behind her.

"Sometimes you're kind of happy it's a new night," she said.

Suzy Whaley, the 36-year-old club pro from Avon, Conn., who will play in next week's Greater Hartford Open on the PGA Tour, had a second straight 75 and was at 6 over for the tournament.

The $950,000 tournament is sponsored by Sybase.

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