Maria Hjorth
maintained her three-shot lead in the LPGA Tournament of Champions despite following
a record-setting 64 with an even-par 72 today.
Hjorth,
the last player to qualify for the tournament when she won the Safeco Classic
on Sept. 19, was at 9-under 207 after three rounds at the Magnolia Grove Crossings
course.
Three
strokes back are first-round leader Karrie Webb, Laura Davies, Chris Johnson and
Cindy Figg-Currier. Figg-Currier has been in second place since the first round.
Hjorth, a native
of Sweden who shot a tournament- and course-record 8-under round on Friday, was
as low as 11-under at the turn after birdies on Nos. 4 and 7.
But
three bogeys and only one birdie on the back nine kept her from extending her
lead.
"When I had
three bogeys and dropped three shots, I looked at the leaderboard and saw that
behind me they weren't moving too much," Hjorth said. "I didn't play well today,
and the ball wasn't as close to the hole as it had been. But there's always going
to be one day out of the four when you struggle."
Playing
together, Webb and Davies each shot a 70 and were at 210. Figg-Currier was in
the final pairing with Hjorth, and matched her 72.
Johnson
moved within three shots with a 69, while Sweden's Helen Alfredsson made the biggest
move with a 67 that put her at 211.
Also
at 211 were Hall of Famer Pat Bradley, Michele Redman and Akiko Fukushima.
Davies, coming off a win
in Japan last week at the Takara World Invitational, had six birdies and four
bogeys.
"I've got
to go out and shoot low tomorrow," the native of England said. "But it's really
up to Maria. If she gives us a chance, we're all going to try to go low and win
it. But I'd like to be in her position, with a three-shot lead and playing well."
Webb ballooned from
an opening-round 66 to a 74 on Friday, but today's 70 kept her in contention for
her tour-leading seventh title of the season.
The
tournament, sponsored by AFLAC, is a no-cut event featuring only winners of LPGA
events over the last three years and active members of the LPGA Hall of Fame.
The winner receives $122,000 from a total purse of $750,000.
DIVOTS:
Defending champion Kelly Robbins and Hall of Famer Nancy Lopez shared honors for
best round of the day with 6-under 66s, and each is eight shots off the lead.
They will play together in the final round. ... Hjorth was a champion in the sport
of curling in Sweden. In national competition, she captained a gold-medal winning
team and was three times a runner-up. ... Webb leads the LPGA Tour in 5 of 12
possible categories: scoring average, greens in regulation, top 10 finishes, rounds
in the 60s, and total points. ... Lopez will play in a tournament in Korea for
the first time next week, at the invitation of reigning Rookie of the Year Se
Ri Pak.
