A marathon day ended with a loud crack of thunder, but not before Lorena Ochoa and Cristie Kerr charged up the leaderboard on Saturday as the US Women's Open finally came to life.
Shin Ji-yai birdied the last hole she played before darkness set in and showers pelted Pine Needles a short time later. She was at 5 under par through 10 holes, one shot clear of Ochoa, Kerr and 36-hole leader Angela Park.
Ochoa, the No. 1 player in the world seeking her first major, birdied two of the first three holes when the third round started late on Saturday afternoon and had consecutive birdies around the turn. Kerr was 5 under through 13 holes, despite missing a few short birdie attempts.
PHOTO: AP
One shot behind at 3 under was Morgan Pressel, the 19-year-old who in April became the youngest women's major winner in history.
It was another early exit for Michelle Wie.
Wie walked off the course halfway through her second round, saying her left wrist was sore when she woke up and got even worse when she tried to play. She shot 42 on the back nine and was headed for another round in the 80s when she withdrew.
"There's good days and bad days," she said. "And obviously, today was not a good day. I just have to re-evaluate, make some smart choices and see how it works out."
The tournament caught a break when the nasty weather stayed away from the 7:30am resumption of the second round until it was too dark to matter.
But there was enough light for Ochoa's wish to come true.
"I think that I'm close enough," Ochoa said after rallying in the second round for a second straight 71, leaving her five shots behind Park after 36 holes.
"Hopefully, my name means something on the leaderboard and I'm ready to play a good round," she said.
Her eagle putt from just short of the first green lipped out, giving her an easy birdie. She poured in a 3.1m birdie on the par-3 third and gave herself plenty of chances for more birdies, not missing a fairway on the front nine.
In the twilight of the sand hills, several Mexicans from the Pine Needles grounds crew added to her gallery, carrying her along.
"Vamos Lorena!" they cried.
She delivered with a 2.1m birdie on the ninth and a 6m birdie on the 10th to pull into a share of the lead. Ochoa was in the 12th fairway when she chose not to finish the hole.
Shin was at 3-under 139, along with Amy Hung (69) and Julieta Granda (60). Shin, a 19-year-old South Korean, missed a 1.3m eagle attempt on the first hole, ran off a string of pars then took advantage of the tees being moved forward on the par-5 10th for a birdie that gave her the lead.
She has played only two US women's tour events, but is considered the next in line of strong South Koreans. And not many have dealt with her kind of adversity. As an an amateur, she was involved in a car accident driving to a tournament that killed her mother and it took Shin time to recover from her own injuries.
Defending champion Annika Sorenstam remained nine shots behind with six holes remaining in her third round. She traded birdies and bogeys, and didn't look like she was ready to make any kind of charge required to get into contention.
"I really like my position," Ochoa said. "It was important to go low in the third round. We still have a lot of holes left, but I like where I am right now. Tomorrow's going to be a special day."
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