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Creamer rises to the top

Stanford recovers composure to be one shot back

Last updated: 5th October 2008

Creamer: Birdie blitz

I've never seen a scoreboard go up and down so many times in a tournament.

Collated third round scores & totals in the LPGA Tour Samsung World Championship, Half Moon Bay, Ocean Course, California
(USA unless stated, par 72):
210 Paula Creamer 68 74 68
211 Angela Stanford 69 73 69
212 Katherine Hull (Aus) 70 73 69, Song-Hee Kim (Kor) 69 73 70, Lorena Ochoa (Mex) 69 73 70
213 Juli Inkster 73 72 68, Suzann Pettersen (Nor) 74 70 69, Ji-Yai Shin (Kor)67 76 70
214 Cristie Kerr 73 73 68
215 Na Yeon Choi (Kor) 69 71 75
216 Jeong Jang (Kor) 72 76 68, Eun Hee Ji (Kor) 73 73 70, Seon Hwa Lee (Kor) 75 69 72
217 Yani Tseng (Tpe) 69 74 74
218 Hee-Won Han (Kor) 75 71 72
221 Annika Sorenstam (Swe) 69 77 75
222 Inbee Park (Kor) 77 71 74
223 Karrie Webb (Aus) 74 76 73
224 Helen Alfredsson (Swe) 75 73 76
227 Angela Park (Brz) 76 76 75

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Paula Creamer birdied the final three holes to take a one-stroke lead into the final round of the Samsung World Championship at Half Moon Bay.

Creamer's round was no more than solid, picking up a solitary shot at the par-three seventh, until a grandstand finish that took her to the top of the leaderboard.

Her round of 68 gives her a six-under-par total of 210, one ahead of Angela Stanford with Katherine Hull, Lorena Ochoa and Song-Hee Kim a shot further back.

"Yesterday, definitely my attitude and my mannerisms on the golf course got me in trouble the last six or seven holes," said Creamer, who shot a 74 in windy conditions on Friday.

"Today my goal was to go out and just be a team player and to have fun and not get too upset when things happen out there.

"I've never seen a scoreboard go up and down so many times in a tournament.

"I stayed patient until the last three holes. I made some putts down the stretch."

Stanford made a stunning start to her round, picking up shots at the third, seventh and ninth - all par threes - while further birdies at 10 and 11 gave her a clear advantage.

But her round came unstuck with a double-bogey six at the 13th and she inexplicably did the same thing two holes later to undo much of her good work.

But she had the presence of mind to birdie both the 17th and 18th to keep herself in the hunt for the $250,000 winners' prize along with defending champion Ochoa, who returned a two-under-par 70.

Veteran Juli Inkster (68) jumped up the leaderboard and for a short time got to five under with five birdies through 10 holes, before dropping back into a group of three players on -3.

Halfway leader Na Yeon Choi slipped off the pace after the South Korean failed to recover from dropping three shots in the first four holes, carding a 75 to be five off the pace.