Lindley in sight of first LPGA win

Leta Lindley's Florida home remains in the eye of the hurricane. She has an infant son to coddle and the death of her longtime coach to mourn.

Despite the inordinate amount of personal drama off the golf course, Lindley is also in the hunt for her first LPGA victory after shooting a 6-under 65 Saturday in the third round at the Longs Drugs Challenge.

Lindley was at 14-under 199, good for a one-stroke lead over Juli Inkster heading into the final round at The Ridge Golf Club, 30 miles east of Sacramento.

Lindley said win or lose, this is her final tournament of the season.

``I can't take much more,'' she said.

Starting two strokes behind Inkster, Lindley posted birdies on consecutive holes to finish 2-under on the front side. She began the back nine with two more birdies to briefly take the lead before bogeying the par-4 13th.

Lindley rallied with birdies on Nos. 14, 15 and 16 to take back the lead.

Inkster shot even par through nine holes, but made three birdies on the back side for a 3-under 68 to finish at 13-under 200. Inkster, attempting to win a tournament for the eighth straight year, opened the tournament with a pair of 66s.

First-round leader Christina Kim also shot a 68 and was two strokes off the lead at 12-under 201.

It's been quite a year for Lindley, who gave birth to a baby boy, Cole, on March 6. She returned to the tour in late June, with her husband and caddy, Matt Plagmann, and their infant son accompanying her from tournament to tournament.

``It's really hard getting up for those 2 a.m. feedings,'' she said. ``Stamina is a big issue for me.''

Entering this week's event, Lindley had two top-10 finishes, including a third-place finish at the Giant Eagle LPGA Classic in July. But she has also missed three cuts, including last week in Portland.

Her house in Palm Beach has been a source of concern the past month, while the death two weeks ago of her longtime coach, Ludwig Keehn, hasn't made life any easier.

``I have every reason not to play well,'' Lindley said. ``Maybe I'm doing this well because I don't expect it.''

Trailing by one stroke to start the round, Kim was in control with three birdies on the front nine to take a two-shot lead.

But on the par-5 11th, Kim needed two shots to escape a fairway bunker, then hit her fourth shot into the trees. She was lucky to come away with a bogey.

``I hit it, and I saw it come back to me like it was in slow motion,'' Kim said of the first bunker shot. ``I made a lot of clutch putts today. I only hit 13 greens ... I did quite a bit of scrambling.''

Inkster had a birdie out of the sand on No. 11 to pull even with Kim, then holed a chip shot on the par-3 12th for another birdie.

``It was out of the hard pan and I was chipping uphill into the wind,'' Inkster said. ``I was just trying to get up and down. It wasn't like I was trying to make it.''

Karrie Webb was having a rather uneventful round before getting an eagle on No. 15 and birdieing the 17th. She shot a 2-under 69 and was in fourth place at 10-under 203, four shots off the lead.

Katherine Hull shot a 65 to climb within four shots of the lead at 9-under 204. Michelle Estill (70) and Angela Stanford (70) are also four shots back.

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