Lincicome's lead cut to one stroke

Brittany Lincicome blasts out of a trap on the 16th hole during the Wegmans LPGA golf championship in Pittsford, N.Y., Saturday, Aug. 16, 2014. (AP Photo/Gary Wiepert)

Brittany Lincicome blasts out of a trap on the 16th hole during the Wegmans LPGA golf championship in Pittsford, N.Y., Saturday, Aug. 16, 2014. (AP Photo/Gary Wiepert)

Sunday, August 17, 2014

PITTSFORD, N.Y. -- Brittany Lincicome maintained her lead Saturday in the LPGA Championship.

The long-hitting Lincicome began the day at Monroe Golf Club with a three-shot advantage over Inbee Park and Lexi Thompson and shot 1-under 71 to finish at 10-under 206 heading into the final round of the season's fourth major championship.

Lincicome is a shot ahead of Park and Suzann Pettersen. Pettersen had a 67 and Park shot 69. Mirim Lee was alone in fourth at 7 under after a 69. Lydia Ko, 17, had a 71 to join Meena Lee and Gerina Piller at 6 under. Piller shot 69, and Lee had a 71.

Thompson finished with a 74 and was at 4 under.

Stacy Lewis (Arkansas Razorbacks) had five birdies and four bogeys for a 1-under 71, placing her in a tie for 22nd with a 1-under 215 after three rounds.

Lincicome won the 2009 Kraft Nabisco for her lone major title and has five LPGA Tour victories. The United States is seeking to win its fourth consecutive major title of the season.

Pettersen has five top-five finishes in her past eight majors, including a victory last year in the Evian Championship, and she continued her solid play when it matters most, reeling off four birdies on the back nine.

"I seem to like the back nine. I like what I see," Pettersen said. "I managed to make a move. It's nice to make a charge. I actually could have had a couple more."

Fighting nervousness, Lincicome hadn't held a second-round lead since 2009 and never in a major.

"Nervous was probably an understatement. My stomach was in knots," Lincicome said. "When it came time to eat lunch, it just wasn't happening because I haven't been in this position in a while. Hopefully, going into tomorrow it's out of my system."

Lincicome is 11 under on the par 5s, a distinct advantage over most of her challengers.

Pettersen birdied Nos. 10 and 11 and had a chance to forge a tie at the par-5 14th hole, but her eagle try slid just past the cup and she settled for a birdie that moved her into a tie with Park at 8 under.

Moments later, Lincicome recovered from an errant second shot that landed in the rough on the par-5 12th hole, pitching to 5 feet and making birdie to regain a two-shot lead.

Pettersen continued her rush, nearly holing a fairway shot at No. 15 and reached 9 under with a tap-in birdie. When Lincicome lipped her par putt at No. 13, the two were tied at 9 under.

Lincicome regained the lead with a birdie at the par-5 14th hole and nearly made it a two-shot advantage, but her long birdie try at No. 15 stopped at the lip and stayed out.

The closing three holes at Monroe rank among the four most difficult on the course and Pettersen parred all three to keep the pressure on.

Lincicome saved par at the par-3 16th hole after driving a fairway bunker. Her tough 12-foot par putt broke ever-so-slightly right to left and barely dropped in, eliciting a big smile from the American, who parred the final two holes to maintain her slim lead.

Lincicome got some breathing room early when Thompson started badly. Thompson had a three-putt bogey at the opening hole, lipping out a short putt for par, and followed with another bogey at No. 2 to drop five shots behind. She recovered with a birdie at No. 3 and parred the next six holes to make the turn at 5 under.

Park, the defending champion, moved a shot closer to the top with a birdie at No. 4 after Lincicome's birdie try stopped an inch short of the hole. Park was within a shot of the top when Lincicome made bogey at the par-4 fifth hole, missing a short par putt.

Unfazed, Lincicome stuck her approach shot at the par-4 seventh hole to within a foot and made birdie to restore her two-shot lead over Park and Lee, whose long birdie putt at No. 7 forged a tie for second.

PGA TOUR

Watney leads by 1

GREENSBORO, N.C. -- Nick Watney birdied the final hole for a 5-under 65 and a one-stroke lead Saturday after the third round of the Wyndham Championship.

Watney made a 20-foot birdie putt from the right edge of the green on the par-4 18th. The five-time PGA Tour winner had a 14-under 196 at Sedgefield.

Brad Fritsch was second after a 65.

Freddie Jacobson and second-round co-leader Heath Slocum were 12 under. Jacobson shot a 66, and Slocum had a 68.

Former Wyndham winners Brandt Snedeker and Webb Simpson joined second-round co-leader Scott Langley at 11 under in the final event of the PGA Tour's regular season. Snedeker and Simpson shot 66, and Langley had a 69.

WEB.COM TOUR

Piller alone at top

Martin Piller took the solo lead Saturday at the Web.com Tour's News Sentinel Open at Knoxville, Tenn.

Piller had 1 eagle, 3 birdies and 1 bogey for a 4-under 67. After three rounds, he was alone at 14-under 199.

J.J. Killeen and Fabian Gomez were tied for second at 13-under 200. Killeen shot a 64 on Saturday and Gomez had a 67.

Roger Sloan, who shared the lead Friday with Piller, shot a 1-over 72 and was tied for 14th at 9-under 204.

EUROPEAN TOUR

Warren shares lead

AALBORG, Denmark -- Scotland's Marc Warren mastered strong winds to shoot a 5-under 66 on Saturday and join Bradley Dredge of Wales in a share of the lead after the third round of Made in Denmark.

Warren surged 12 places up the leaderboard to sit tied with Dredge on 6-under 207, three shots ahead of Garteh Maybin of Northern Ireland and England's Simon Wakefield.

Dredge, a two-time winner of the European Tour, held a four-shot lead after the second round but only managed a 73 after mixing four bogeys with two birdies.

Warren had eight birdies and three bogeys.

Denmark's Thomas Bjorn, who is hoping to wrap up a Ryder Cup spot, also made a 73 to drop into a tie for eighth. The 43-year-old Dane, who hasn't played in the Ryder Cup since 2002, dropped behind countryman Thorbjorn Olesen and was five shots behind Dredge.

This is the first time since 2003 that a European Tour event is being held in Denmark.

Sports on 08/17/2014