Neumann holds on to lead

Liselotte Neumann moved closer to her first LPGA Tour victory in six years, firing a 69 Saturday for a one-shot lead at the LPGA Asahi Ryokuken International Championship.

Neumann, the 1988 U.S. Women's Open champion, won the most recent of her 12 LPGA titles in 1998, a time when she was fifth on the money list and a regular near the top of leaderboards. Her game has steadily fallen since then, and she entered the LPGA's final full-field event of the year in 83rd place on the money list.

Even her caddie's vest at Mount Vintage Plantation wrongly spelled her name as "Newmann."

But the 38-year-old Swede, who had been tied for the second-round lead with Donna Andrews and Becky Morgan, took another big step toward regaining her elite status.

At 11-under 205, Neumann was a stroke ahead of Morgan (70) and three in front of Sophie Gustafson (66), Grace Park (68), Laura Davies (70) and Cristie Kerr (70).

Neumann has won four of the past five tournaments she's led entering the final round.

"That's a pretty good stat," she said, grinning. "The odds are pretty good."

Especially with Neumann back on her game.

She had birdies on two of her first three holes, including a tap-in on the par-3 third when her tee shot finished 3 feet from the cup. Neumann took the lead outright when Andrews misplayed a tricky downhill chip on the fourth for bogey.

Neumann added birdies on the 10th and 12th holes to extend her lead.

Her only slip-up was on the par-3 15th when her tee shot landed next to a tree. She had to chip backwards away from the flagstick, then hit up within 5 feet and make the bogey putt.

Neumann scrambled at the end, saving par with a 7-footer on the 17th and a 3-footer on the 18th.

Although she hadn't held a lead in an LPGA event since the Nabisco Championships in 2002, Neumann felt peaceful when play began here. As the round progressed, Neumann said the old excitement and edginess of battling for a title bubbled up.

"I think it kind of snuck up on me there at the end," she said.

Morgan, whose best career finish was second at the ShopRite LPGA Classic last year and the Chik-Fil-A Charity Championship in May, continued her steady play. She made her first bogey of the tournament on the fourth hole, but rallied with birdies on 12 and 16 to move within a shot of the lead.

Gustafson hasn't won since last year's Samsung World Championships. She said through an LPGA spokeswoman that she's been taking a drug called Zyprexa since the spring to help with a speech impediment. The drug makes her tired, though, so she has to be careful about when she takes it.

Gustafson planned to take the drug Wednesday night, but forgot. She couldn't take it Thursday night because it might have impacted her Friday morning round.

"Since I played well both Thursday and Friday, I didn't take it yesterday," Gustafson said. "I'm not going to take it (Saturday night) either."

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