Annika Sorenstam
isn't comfortable being cocky. Quiet confidence is more like it.
"I
can't be in a much better position, although a 10-shot lead would be nice," the
soft-spoken Sorenstam said today after shooting a 3-under 69 to take a two-shot
lead after three rounds of the inaugural New Albany Golf Classic."
"Hopefully I can wake up
on the right side tomorrow. You need a little luck to win too," she said. "I'm
happy with where I am, but I've got to play tomorrow. I can't just show up and
expect to win."
The reason Sorenstam, who was at 13-under 203, just can't pull out a few clubs
Sunday and walk away with a victory is Mardi Lunn, who shot a 5-under 67 today
despite a gusting wind to move into second place.
Lunn turned a four-shot deficit to start the day into a two-stroke lead after
No. 11, and only two bogeys over her final four holes and a few clutch putts by
Sorenstam prevented a different look atop the leaderboard.
"I
looked at her score and thought, 'What course is she playing? Isn't there any
wind where she is?' " said Sorenstam, whose only victory this year was in the
Michelob Light Classic in July.
"She
was 7-under at one point -- I was just happy to be 1-under. Even 5-under, where
she finished, that's a great score today," Sorenstam said.
Lunn, who won the Areaweb.com Challenge in August and has four other top-10 finishes
this year, used a birdie on the par-3 11th to tie Sorenstam.
Birdies on 13 and the 130-yard 14th -- where her approach with a 9-iron reached
the lip of the cup but didn't fall in -- moved her to 13-under and two shots ahead.
But she lost the lead when
her tee shot on 15 landed in a bunker and after a solid chip, she missed a 4-foot
putt for par.
She
managed to save par on 16 and 17, but missed a 6-footer on 18 to fall two shots
back.
"I'm disappointed,
but 15 played tough today," Lunn said. "It's 18 that's tough to swallow. I just
tried to hit that 8-iron too hard, I guess, and chunked it."
Lunn had three other birdies and an eagle Saturday.
"I
know that today I was striking the ball pretty good, and it was tough out there
with that wind. I hit some good shots when I needed to," she said.
Sorenstam managed just four birdies, but she bogeyed only once. The 69 was her
highest score of the three rounds.
"I
feel like I shot a 6 under today," she said. "I was really working hard out there.
I feel like I did everything I could - now I'm tired from thinking so much. It's
fun on days like this, to be challenged, but you're tired at the end."
Liselotte Neumann, without
a top-10 finish since finishing second to Juli Inkster in the LPGA Championship
in July, took little comfort in being third at 207 after a 71.
"It
was difficult, but I was just all over the place," Neumann said. "I missed my
tee shots on the left side. I couldn't hit any greens. It wasn't pretty."
She was two shots down
with two rounds left, and is now four down with one round to play.
"It doesn't look good does
it? Annika is just so consistent," Neumann said. "She's not going to make many
mistakes. I'm going to have to play good golf -- even 1-under is not going to
do it. I'll need to be at least 5- or 6-under to have a shot."
Local favorite Meg Mallon, an Ohio State graduate, was at 8-under, while Emilee
Klein birdied three of the last four holes to finish with a 68 and was five strokes
back. Rachel Hetherington stayed at 6 under after shooting a 72 today.
Kathleen Parker-Gregory,
who led after an opening-round 64 -- the lowest round of her pro career -- recovered
from a 77 Friday to pull within eight shots of the lead at 211.
Janice Moodie started the day 2-over, but shot a 6-under 66 and was in a four-way
tie for eighth at 4-under 212.
