Park ahead by three at Nabisco

Inbee Park shot a 5-under-par 67 Saturday and leads by three strokes in the LPGA Kraft Nabisco Championship in Rancho Mirage, Calif.
Inbee Park shot a 5-under-par 67 Saturday and leads by three strokes in the LPGA Kraft Nabisco Championship in Rancho Mirage, Calif.

RANCHO MIRAGE, Calif. - Inbee Park’s 7-iron tee shot Saturday on the 168-yard 17th hole turned left on a perfect line at the back-left pin, landed softly and rolled to 2½ feet for yet another birdie in the Kraft Nabisco Championship.

The 24-year-old from South Korea, who leads by three strokes with a round left in the first major championship of the year, admitted it wasn’t quite the way she planned it after watching playing partner Lizette Salas’ ball sail too far left and into a bunker.

“It was actually a little bit of a mis-shot,” Park said. “I aimed a little more right, but I slightly pulled it and it ended up perfect.”

Bogey-free in her last 22 holes at Mission Hills, Park shot her second consecutive 5-under-par 67 in tricky wind conditions to reach 12 under.

“I feel really good about my swing and the stroke at the moment,” Park said. “I feel really comfortable around this golf course, too. That helps.”

She’s in position for her second major title and second victory of the year. She won the 2008 U.S. Women’s Open and added her fourth LPGA Tour title in February in Thailand when Ariya Jutanugarn closed with a triple bogey to blow a two-stroke lead.

Salas, a stroke behind Park entering the round, had a 69 to remain second.

Hall of Famer Karrie Webb, the tournament winner in 2000 and 2006, was five strokes back at 6 under along with Suzann Pettersen,

Top-ranked Stacy Lewis (Arkansas Razorbacks) shot a 1-under 71 and is 11 shots behind Park. She is in a tie for 23rd place with five others, including Michelle Wie.

“Coming into the week my swing didn’t feel great and I was kind of hoping I would figure things out by now, but I just haven’t,” said Lewis, the 2011 champion.

She has struggled after winning consecutive events this year in Singapore and Phoenix to take the top spot in the world from Yani Tseng.

Karen Stupples (Arkansas State) shot a 3-over 75 and is 16 shots off the pace.

TEXAS OPEN

Horschel leads by two

SAN ANTONIO - Billy Horschel overcame the strong Texas wind and is one round away from his first PGA Tour victory.

Horschel held off an experienced leaderboard to shoot 2-under-par 70 and take a two-shot lead entering the final round of the Texas Open.

Horschel, who also held the lead after the second round, battled through the gusting San Antonio wind to reach 10 under overall - two shots ahead of Jim Furyk and Charley Hoffman.

The Florida native was second at last week’s Houston Open and extended his PGA Tour-best streak of consecutive made cuts to 21 this week.

Rory McIlroy shot a 1-under 71 and is four shots back. McIlroy tied for the low round Friday with a 67, but he was inconsistent off the tee Saturday and had four birdies and three bogeys.

Ken Duke (Arkadelphia, Henderson State) shot a 3-over 75 and fell back to even par for the tournament. Bryce Molder (Conway) also shot 3 over and is 11 shots behind Horschel.

Furyk birdied No. 18 to cap a 3-under effort for the day to reach today’s final pairing.

Sports, Pages 25 on 04/07/2013

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