Nicole Perrot takes three shot lead

Chile's Nicole Perrot moved into position for her first LPGA Tour victory Saturday, shooting a 7-under 64 to take a three-stroke lead after the third round of the Longs Drugs Challenge.

The 21-year-old Perrot, the 2001 U.S. Girls champion, had a 14-under 199 total on The Ridge Golf Course. She had eight birdies -- four in a row on Nos. 3-6 -- and a bogey in the best round of her first full season on the tour.

``Winning is always great, I'm ready for it to happen, but I'm not pushing it,'' said Perrot, a two-time winner last year on the Futures Tour. ``I will really just try to focus on my game and what I'm feeling,'' Perrot said. ``It's too tough to worry about (other player's) scores. I just try to control what I can control.''

Sweden's Liselotte Neumann (64) and South Korea's Hee-Won Han (66) were 11 under, and Sherri Turner (66), Jennifer Rosales (67) and Sherri Steinhauer (69) followed at 9 under.

Hall of Famers Juli Inkster (67) and Beth Daniel (70) were in a group at 8 under, and Annika Sorenstam was nine strokes back at 5 under after a 71.

Sorenstam, the 1997 champion at Twelve Bridges Golf Club, is making her first appearance in the tournament since 2001. She will be 35 on Sunday.

Perrot, two strokes off the lead at the start of the third round, pulled ahead on the cool, sunny day in nearly ideal conditions in the foothills of Sacramento.

After three-putting the 13th for a bogey, Perrot came back with three more birdies, including a 10-footer on No. 18.

Neumann has 13 LPGA Tour victories.

``It's always nice to have been there before,'' Neumann said. ``Nicole is aggressive. She's a tough player. I don't think she will be scared.

``I played extremely well. Actually, it could have been better. I missed a couple of short putts. Overall, it was one of my best ball-striking days in a long time. I was hitting the sticks all day.''

Han won the Office Depot Championship on Monday in Rancho Palos Verdes.

``I played pretty good overall,'' Han said. ``I will be looking at the leaderboard tomorrow. I will be confident after what I did last week.''

Sorenstam, a seven-time winner on the tour this year, struggled with her putting.

``I've been hitting it beautifully, driving it good and hitting a lot of greens,'' Sorenstam said. ``But nothing seems to happen. I'm being optimistic, my game is there.''

Second-round leader Dawn Coe-Jones was six strokes back after a 72. Cristie Kerr, the first-round leader after a career-best 62, had a 77 to fall 15 strokes behind. She shot a 75 on Friday.

Nicole Perrot               69-66-64-199 -14
Liselotte Neumann           68-70-64-202 -11
Hee-Won Han                 73-63-66-202 -11
Sherri Turner               69-69-66-204 -9
Jennifer Rosales            71-66-67-204 -9
Sherri Steinhauer           70-65-69-204 -9
Juli Inkster                72-66-67-205 -8
Lindsey Wright              67-68-70-205 -8
Beth Daniel                 66-69-70-205 -8
Dawn Coe-Jones              67-66-72-205 -8
Catriona Matthew            70-69-67-206 -7
Marilyn Lovander            66-71-69-206 -7
Jimin Kang                  72-70-65-207 -6
Candy Hannemann             68-69-70-207 -6
Heather Bowie               70-69-69-208 -5
Wendy Doolan                69-70-69-208 -5
Young Kim                   67-72-69-208 -5
Lee Ann Walker-Cooper       71-67-70-208 -5
Jean Bartholomew            73-64-71-208 -5
Shi  Hyun Ahn               69-68-71-208 -5
Annika Sorenstam            68-69-71-208 -5
Michele Redman              69-67-72-208 -5
Heather Daly-Donofrio       69-66-73-208 -5
Wendy Ward                  69-73-67-209 -4
Nadina Taylor               68-72-69-209 -4
Helen Alfredsson            71-68-70-209 -4
Karrie Webb                 71-67-71-209 -4
Leta Lindley                68-70-71-209 -4
Joanne Morley               68-67-74-209 -4
Stacy Prammanasudh          68-72-70-210 -3
Tina Barrett                74-65-71-210 -3
Christina Kim               68-68-74-210 -3
Candie Kung                 72-69-70-211 -2
Pat Hurst                   68-72-71-211 -2
Rachel Hetherington         68-71-72-211 -2
Jamie Hullett               68-69-74-211 -2
Young Jo                    71-73-68-212 -1
Brandie Burton              70-74-68-212 -1
Emily Bastel                70-74-68-212 -1
Paula Marti                 75-67-70-212 -1
Becky Iverson               66-74-72-212 -1
Kate Golden                 69-74-70-213 E
Kathryn Marshall            72-70-71-213 E
Nancy Scranton              72-70-71-213 E
Il Mi Chung                 68-74-71-213 E
Lorie Kane                  69-72-72-213 E
Nicole Jeray                70-70-73-213 E
Natalie Gulbis              70-67-76-213 E
Kim Williams                67-70-76-213 E
Riko Higashio               71-64-78-213 E
Pearl Sinn-Bonanni          73-71-70-214 +1
Erica Blasberg              69-75-70-214 +1
Gloria Park                 76-67-71-214 +1
Sung Ah Yim                 71-72-71-214 +1
Minny Yeo                   70-73-71-214 +1
Michelle Ellis              70-71-73-214 +1
Brittany Lincicome          72-67-75-214 +1
Cristie Kerr                62-75-77-214 +1
Johanna Head                72-71-72-215 +2
A.J. Eathorne               72-71-72-215 +2
Patricia Meunier-Lebouc     71-70-74-215 +2
Emilee Klein                72-72-72-216 +3
Denise Killeen              74-69-73-216 +3
Tracy Hanson                70-70-76-216 +3
Kristal Parker-Manzo        75-69-73-217 +4
Angela Stanford             73-71-73-217 +4
Lara Tadiotto               72-72-73-217 +4
Siew-Ai Lim                 70-74-73-217 +4
Soo-Yun Kang                70-73-74-217 +4
Eva Dahllof                 71-69-77-217 +4
Hilary Lunke                71-72-75-218 +5
Stephanie Louden            73-69-77-219 +6
Birdie Kim                  72-69-78-219 +6
Michelle Estill             71-73-76-220 +7
Leslie Spalding             69-75-78-222 +9
    

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