Lorena Ochoa shot a seven-under 65 in the third round of the Ginn Open, moving to 16-under and taking a one-shot lead over Taiwanese rookie Yani Tseng on Saturday.
The Mexican star is 18 holes away from her fourth victory in as many weeks.
“I just like the way I feel right now,” Ochoa said. “I trust that my game is at a good level and I should be ready for anything.”
PHOTO: AP
She started the third round three shots behind Tseng and was four back after a bogey on the second. But the world’s No. 1 player made three consecutive birdies beginning with the par-5 ninth and took the lead for good with a near-perfect approach shot on No. 11.
She gave Tseng and a few others a chance to keep it close by just missing birdie putts on the next three holes. Ochoa then closed out her round with birdies on 15 and 18, pumping her right fist after each one hit the bottom of the cup.
“I think what I did today, I’m really pleased,” said Ochoa, who matched her low round of the year. “It was a great day, especially starting with bogey. I was able to make eight birdies and just finish in the lead. I like my position.”
Tseng closed with birdies on two of her final three holes and shot 69. Teresa Lu (69) was 11-under, one stroke ahead of Carin Koch (70) and Suzann Pettersen (72).
They’re all chasing Ochoa — again.
Tseng and Lu, good friends from Taiwan, will be in the final group alongside Ochoa.
Tseng, who has five top-25 finishes in five starts this year, had hoped to play with Ochoa in the third round. Instead, she was a group behind and watched Ochoa climb the leaderboard and eventually pass her.
“I don’t want to put too much pressure [on myself],” Tseng said. “I want to learn something from her.”
Tseng said she played “pretty safe” in the early part of the round, then got more aggressive after Ochoa took the lead on the 11th.
Ochoa’s four victories this year have come by a combined 34 shots. She opened with an 11-stroke victory in Singapore, defended her Safeway International title with a seven-stroke romp, won the season’s first major by five shots and then led from start to finish last week in Mexico and won by 11.
Ochoa said some of her colleagues have jokingly asked her to start taking it easy on them.
“I’m going to take a week off next week,” Ochoa said.
Now, she will get to do what she does best — close out tournaments. Ochoa has won 15 out of 22 when leading going into the final round.
All of Ochoa’s victories this year came after she led at the end of the third round.
Then again, Ochoa squandered a lead at the Ginn last year. She started the final round tied for first, then endured a stunning collapse in blustery conditions. Ochoa was six-over on the final six holes, missed a 10-foot bogey putt on 18 that would have forced a playoff and ended up with a 77.
She does not expect it to happen again.
“You always learn the hard way,” Ochoa said. “Hopefully, we write a different story [on Sunday]. It hurt a lot and it was tough at the time, but then you look back and you always see that it’s always worth it. Everything happens for a reason. I’m a much better player now.”
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