Former champion Suzann Pettersen of Norway extended her lead to five strokes at the LPGA Thailand yesterday after shooting a four-under 68 in her third bogey-free round.
The 2007 winner totaled 18-under 198 at Siam Country Club on a hot day mixed with rain and wind.
“I’m playing very solid, gave myself some good chances on the greens,” Pettersen said. “I’m playing very good going into the last round.”
PHOTO: AFP
Kim Song-hee of South Korea was next, holing three birdies in the last four holes to hit a 68.
“I played pretty good today, but it was hard on the front nine. I didn’t get many birdies,” Kim said. “On the back nine, I got more birdies and more confidence.”
After two error-free rounds, Ai Miyazato of Japan bogeyed twice yesterday to offset four birdies to finish with a 70 and share of third place at 204 with compatriot Momoko Ueda (69) and 2008 LPGA Championship winner Yani Tseng of Taiwan (68).
Christie Kerr, the 2007 U.S. Open champion, made two eagles in a 66 to be a further shot back, along with 2009 LPGA Thailand runner-up Park Hee-young (72) and Maria Hjorth (70).
Taiwan’s Candie Kung trailed behind at 223 after shooting a 74.
FRIDAY’S ACTION
After Friday’s play, Pettersen led the field with an eight-under 64 for a three-stroke lead.
Despite weather fluctuating between sun and rain, the 2007 champion remained bogey free for two rounds, with a total of 14-under 130, the best two-round performance in the tournament’s history.
Trailing her was last year’s runner-up, Park, who hit an error-free round of 66 to finish on an 11-under 133, one shot ahead of Japan’s Ai Miyazato, who carded her second straight 67.
“I started the second round with two easy birdies. After that it rained a little bit, which confused my thinking,” Park said.
Like Pettersen, the 24-year-old Miyazato heads into the weekend rounds without any bogeys.
“I played a steady round,” Miyazato said. “I missed some greens but made a lot of good par putts. I’m happy to have no bogeys. Today it was really hot but there was a bit of rain. That helped a lot as it was cooler.”
Ueda hit a 65 for a nine-under total of 135 to take joint-fourth place with Kim and Sweden’s Maria Hjorth.
A stroke behind in seventh was sixth-ranked Tseng, who hit a round of 68 for a total of 136. Australian Karrie Webb, Nontaya Srisawang, the top scorer among five Thai players, and Catriona Matthew of Scotland shared eighth position on 138.
Wie, who was followed around the course by hundreds of fans, followed up her par round on Thursday with a four-under 68.
Wie fired six birdies against two bogeys to finish with a two-day total of 140, to stand 13th.
Top-ranked Lorena Ochoa played inconsistently to leave her with a three-under total of 141.
“I felt rusty at the beginning. It’s the second round of the year,” Ochoa said.
TEARY FAREWELL
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