Han takes lead going into final round

Hee-Won Han was back atop the leaderboard at the Wendy's Championship for Children. Han, the defending champion and 2002 runner-up, shot an even-par 72 in the third round Saturday to take a two-shot lead. The South Korean had earlier rounds of 66 and 70 at the rain-soaked and muddy Tartan Fields Golf Club and was at 8-under-par 208.

The third round was suspended due to darkness with 18 players still on the course. About half the field was unable to finish each of the first two rounds until a day later because of rain delays. The third round will be completed early Sunday before the final round gets under way.

Second-round leader Suzann Pettersen lapsed to a 75 in the third round and was tied for second at 6-under 210 with Catriona Matthew (71), Marilyn Lovander (71), 2002 Wendy's winner Mi Hyun Kim (71) and Laura Diaz, who finished with a 68 moments before play was halted by the darkness.

Han started the round a shot behind Pettersen and moved into the lead without having to post a low score. She played the first 12 holes in par, briefly took a three-stroke lead with a birdie on the par-5 fourth hole, and then closed with a bogey.

Much of the attention was focused on amateurs Michelle Wie and Paula Creamer, who jousted head-to-head for the first time in an LPGA event.

The 14-year-old Wie, who will be a high school sophomore this fall, has made the cut in her last eight LPGA events, including a fourth-place finish in the year's first major at the Kraft Nabisco Championship. Creamer, an 18-year-old high school senior, has also made eight consecutive cuts on the tour, including a tie for second at the ShopRite Classic in June.

Wie shot a 71 despite hitting two balls into the water and taking a quadruple-bopgey 7 at No. 17, her eighth hole of the round. She regrouped to birdie the final three holes and enters the final round five shots off the lead.

Creamer never really got things going. She had a double-bogey and three bogeys, putting together a 75 by birdieing two holes down the stretch.

Leading the pack at 5-under 211 and three shots back was Nancy Scranton, almost five months pregnant with twins. She shot a 70 and was joined by Reilley Rankin (75), Brandie Burton (73), 2001 Wendy's winner Wendy Ward (70) and Marisa Baena (69).

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