Webb comes from behind to take lead at World Championship

Karrie Webb decided she had been trailing Se Ri Pak long enough at the Samsung World Championship of Women's Golf.

So Webb shot a 7-under-par 65 Saturday and her 54-hole total of 207 was one stroke better than Pak and Laura Davies after three trips around the Rush Creek Golf Club course.

Pak shot a 70, while Davies, second after each round of the $700,000 tournament, had a 68.

Rachel Hetherington was fourth after a 67 put her at 209.

Webb was in sixth place behind Pak after the first round, then improved to a tie for third after the second round. She made just one bogey Saturday and had eight birdies.

"It's been a little bit of a struggle this week, but it's been a little bit better today, so I'm not worried about it," Webb said.

The No. 1-ranked player in the world, Webb is in her fourth year on the LPGA Tour, and is leading the race for the Rolex Player of the Year and Vare Trophy awards.

If Webb finishes atop the leaderboard Sunday, she will be the first LPGA player since Beth Daniel in 1990 to win seven tournaments in one year. The feat has only been accomplished 19 times before, by nine golfers, all but one of whom are in the LPGA Hall of Fame.

"Those are the things you don't really, at the start of the year, think that's going to happen. That's not something you look in the record books and say 'OK, I want to add my name to that record,"' Webb said.

Pak was coasting along in the lead until No. 8, when she made a double bogey after hitting the ball into the water. She recovered with birdies on Nos. 14 and 15.

"Actually, on 8 after the double bogey, I felt down already," Pak said. "Then, after being under, I kept trying to think about happy things. I knew I'd have to fight with myself again."

Webb missed an opportunity to go 10 under on No. 17, when a 10-foot putt went about a foot past the cup. Hetherington bogeyed that hole after her 7-foot putt rolled alongside the lip of the cup and went past it.

Hetherington and Webb, who have known each other since they competed in tournaments in Australia, at age 14, said they enjoyed playing together in a twosome.

"You definitely pull each other along," Hetherington said. "It kind of helps you concentrate well."

"We've both played pretty well when we've played together," Webb said. "We've played a lot of golf together and we're good friends."

Davies' tee shot on No. 2 hit a camera tripod, bounced 70 yards backward into the rough and stopped against a tree.

"All I could do was move it 15 or 20 yards, then I had to lay up," Davies said. "I just about kept my cool. I was pretty angry at the time."

Davies hit a sand wedge within 5 feet to save par on No. 2.

Under sunny skies and with no wind - a stark contrast to the tournament's first two days, when winds gusted up to 30 mph - several golfers continued their climb up the leaderboard.

Rosie Jones, 16th after the first round, continued improving with a 3-under 69 and was six strokes behind Webb.

Jones, an 18-year veteran of the LPGA Tour who has been among the top 30 money-winners in 10 of the past 12 years, had birdies on Nos. 5 through 8.

Kellie Kuehne, 14th after Thursday's first round, shot a 70 and is at 213, tied with Jones and Meg Mallon.

Two-time defending champion Juli Inkster finished the third round with a 1-under 71 and was at 217, tied with Akiko Fukushima.