Creamer cools off with 70, but still leads Jamie Farr Classic by four

7/13/2008

Paula Creamer shot a 1-under-par 70, 10 more shots than she needed for her first round, and still held a four-stroke lead after three rounds of the Jamie Farr Owens Corning Classic on Saturday.

Creamer, who set the course record with her opening 60, was at 18-under 195 through 54 holes at Highland Meadows. The 21-year-old American had a 65 in the second round.

South Korea's Eun-hee Ji was in second place, as she has been after all three rounds. She shot a 68 to cut two strokes off of Creamer's lead.

She could easily have made an even bigger dent in the lead. Ji cut it to three strokes when she birdied the 11th hole while Creamer, playing in the same group, was three-putting for a bogey. Creamer recovered with birdies at the 13th and 17th holes. Ji was 1 under for the final seven holes and missed two birdie putts inside 10 feet.

Playing her first full year on the Tour, Ji missed a 10-footer at No. 16. Then, moments after Creamer saved par with a 7-foot putt at the closing hole, Ji missed a 6-footer for birdie.

Rachel Hetherington had a 67 and was alone in third at 202. Karrie Webb made the biggest move of the day, shooting a 62 to climb into a tie for fourth with Chinese rookie Shanshan Feng, who shot a 64. They were both at 203.

Defending champion Se Ri Pak, trying to become the first LPGA player to win the same tournament six times, had a 72 that left her 14 shots back. Michelle Wie shot a 71 and was at 213.

Creamer said she would try to forget about the 72-hole tournament record (23 under, by Pak) or the pressures of leading from start to finish.

Leaderboard – Round 1:

1. Paula Creamer                   60 65 70 195 -18
2. Eun-Hee Ji                         65 66 68 199 -14
3. Rachel Hetherington            68 67 67 202 -11
4. Shanshan Feng                   69 70 64 203 -10
    Karrie Webb                       70 71 62 203 -10
6. Kristy McPhesron                  74 66 64 204 - 9
    Brittany Lincicome                70 67 67 204 - 9
    Alena Sharp                        69 67 68 204 - 9
9. Momoko Ueda                     68 70 67 205 - 8
    Ji Young Oh                        70 68 67 205 - 8
    Katie Futcher                       69 69 67 205 - 8
    Janice Moodie                      69 67 69 205 - 8
    H.J. Choi                             67 68 70 205 - 8
    Stacy Lewis                          70 66 69 205 - 8

Source: AP, LPGA Tour