Ochoa, Sorenstam In The Hunt


June 8, 2008

By Andrew Blair

Havre de Grace, Md. -- It was an uncomfortable day weather-wise and for Lorena Ochoa

The world's No. 1-ranked player, pursuing a second straight major championship, at times looked somewhat human in Saturday's humid third round at the McDonald's LPGA Championship. She shot an even-par 72 as temperatures climbed above 100 degrees at Bulle Rock Golf Club, near Baltimore.

South Korean Jee Young Lee had a third-day 7-under 65 and was 12 under for the championship, a shot ahead of Swede Maria Hjorth.

The top two players on the Beltway-jammed leaderboard have plenty of company, including Ochoa. Three-time Women's Open champion Annika Sorenstam, who posted her second straight round of 68 and is tied with Ochoa at 10 under, was two off Lee's pace.

Aiming for her second major of the season, a third straight overall and a possible Grand Slam, Ochoa got off to a conspicuous start. She three-putted for bogey at the par-4 first hole. Things nearly totally unraveled at the par-3 seventh, where Ochoa pulled her tee shot into thick mounding left of the green. She took nearly a full swing to dislodge the ball. But as if Lucy were pulling the football away from Charlie Brown, the clump of grass from her aggressive swing went farther as the ball moved only a few feet.

It ultimately resulted in a double bogey.

Even with a birdie at the par-5 eighth, Ochoa turned in two over for the day. Seemingly and understandably struggling to get comfortable on the sweltering day, she responded and started the back nine with birdies at Nos. 10 and 12 to offset a bogey at No. 11.

Unlike Big Brown, Ochoa had a small, but needed late rally ready, knocking in a 15-foot birdie putt at the par-3 17th to partially savage her round. Another major victory and a place in history was clearly within grasp of the 26-year-old.

"I'm just glad that I came back and finished with the same number, 10 under, and I'm only two shots behind," said Ochoa. "If they would have asked me…earlier in the week if I would take this position, I would take it."

She called Friday's second round in which she shot 65 and had a host of makeable birdie opportunities an "easy round."

Ochoa had another description in mind following Saturday's action.

"Very hard," she quipped. "The opposite."

Admittedly waiting for the putter to warm up, Sorenstam began the day four shots off Ochoa's lead, but birdied three of the first six holes to assert herself again. She converted back-to-back birdies at Nos. 2 and 3 as her putter warmed, knocking in putts of 12 and 28 feet. She holed in a 7-footer at the par-4 sixth to get back into contention, added another on the inward half at No. 15 and played bogey-free.

She'll have a chance at her first major since triumphing in the Women's Open at Newport (R.I.) Country Club in '06.

"During majors, you have to kind of go through the minor challenges out there," said Sorenstam, who announced earlier this year that she will retire from competitive golf following the season. "I've done it before and this is what I live for. The key in majors, by the end of the day, is not how it's done; you have to get it done and that's what I have to do [Sunday]."

Sorenstam knows she'll make one tactical change Sunday when temperatures are supposed to again near triple-digits.

"I'm not going to wear a brown top tomorrow, something light," she laughed.

The long-hitting Lee overcame a double bogey at the par-4 fifth to birdie three of the final four holes on the front nine (Nos. 6, 8 and 9) and get to eight under. She surged late, playing the last four holes in four under. She started the stretch by draining a 15-footer for eagle at the par-5 15th, before adding late birdies at Nos. 16 and 18.

"I've been waiting to win a tournament ever since I came to the United States, and to win a major tournament here would be exciting for me," she said through an interpreter. "And I'm really looking forward to winning this tournament."

Hjorth, who began the day six shots off Ochoa's pace, went without a bogey and played the outward half in five under. That included reeling off four straight birdies from Nos. 6-9 to close the front nine. Hjorth found the right formula in the steamy conditions.

"The heat comes with it," she said. "As long as you try to drink and not think about it too much, it worked for me."

Notes

Seven players were within four shots of the top spot, including former Curtis Cupper Brittany Lang (71), who is at 8-under 208. She surged early by making three early birdies, was at 10 under and tied for the lead, but made bogey at No. 10 and double at the par-4 13th, before answering with a closing birdie.

The late response marked significant progress for the confident McKinney, Texas, native. She said a big number would have derailed her during the '07 campaign, which saw her make only 15 cuts in 27 events. Lang can be excused if she's grown used to the spoils of success; she won her first tournament when she was 10.

"I don't think there were any other females in the tournament, though," laughed Lang, who scored a hole-in-one during the round at Brandermill Country Club in Richmond, Va.

Later, she took to beating a host of the nation's top women's amateurs, winning the Women's Western, the North and South as well as a host of AJGA events. She played at Duke for two years before turning professional in 2005.

This season, with the help of a new swing coach, Lang's refined her already-powerful swing and, more significant, she said, improved her mental outlook. The results have shown in improved ball striking and with the help of caddie and brother, Luke, a better approach when adversity inevitably hits on the golf course as it did on the back nine Friday.

"I didn't look back on [the double] one time," said Lang, who owns two top-six finishes on tour this season, including a tie for second at Sybase two weeks ago.

The well-built Lang may be a large part of the future American women's golf has been longing for.

In Pursuit Of History

With a win tomorrow and at the Women's Open later this month at Interlachen Country Club in Edina, Minn., Ochoa could become only the third player in history to holding all four professional major trophies at the same time, an accomplishment realized only by Tiger Woods and Mickey Wright.

She'll chase history with the ever-competitive Sorenstam one grouping ahead on Sunday at the LPGA Championship.

"I probably would have liked to have played with Annika," said Ochoa. "I think it would have been fun…for us. It will be important to get a good start and to put my name up there."

Andrew Blair is a Virginia-based freelance writer whose work has previously appeared on usga.org.