Despite late slip, Creamer leads Inkster by two in LPGA SemGroup

5/4/2008

BROKEN ARROW, Okla. (AP) -- Paula Creamer looked as though she might blow away the competition Saturday at the SemGroup Championship, rolling in two long birdie putts and keeping bogeys off her card

Another poor finish gave four players a decent chance, none of them named Lorena Ochoa.

Creamer made bogey on two of the last three holes for the second straight day in identical fashion -- a three-putt on the 16th, a bogey from the bunker on the 18th -- but still wound up with a 2-under 69 for a two-shot lead over Juli Inkster.

Creamer was at 3-under 210 and will play in the final pairing with Inkster, whose 20-foot par putt on the 18th hole gave her a 4-under 67, the best this week at Cedar Ridge.

Ochoa, trying to join Nancy Lopez and Annika Sorenstam in the LPGA Tour record books with her fifth straight victory, needs a score in the mid-60s and a collapse by Creamer, neither of which looks like a possibility.

The 26-year-old from Mexico finally ended her birdie drought at Cedar Ridge, but was done in by consecutive bogeys on the back nine that stalled her momentum. She wound up with an even-par 71 and was eight shots behind.

It doesn't look likely, even with Creamer continuing to give shots away at the end of her round.

Brittany Lang, who tied for second in the 2005 U.S. Women's Open at Cherry Hills, closed with 11 pars for an even-par 71 and was only four shots behind at 214. Another shot back was Angela Stanford (71) and Leta Lindley (72).

Inkster, a 47-year-old with two daughters and seven majors, shot 32 on the front nine in blustery conditions, held it together on the back nine and gave herself another chance at the tournament where she was runner-up a year ago. The Hall of Famer has not won in more than two years.

Creamer is only 4-3 with at least a share of the 54-hole lead, one of those losses coming her rookie season in 2005 in the Wegmans LPGA outside Rochester, N.Y. She was two shots ahead of Ochoa, only to watch the Mexican star birdie six of the last seven holes.

Leaderboard – Round 3:

1. Paula Creamer            70 71 69 210 - 3
2. Juli Inkster                  72 73 67 212 - 1
3. Brittany Lang               72 71 71 214 +1
4. Leta Lindley                 71 72 72 215 +2
    Angela Stanford           73 71 71 215 +2
6. Lorena Ochoa              73 74 71 218 +5
    Jeong Jang                  73 72 73 218 +5
    Jamie Hullett               74 71 73 218 +5
    Jee Young Lee             75 69 74 218 +5
    Ji Young Oh                 70 72 76 218 +5

Source: AP, LPGA