Sorenstam makes up five shots to trail Stanford by one in Mexico

11/16/2008

Annika Sorenstam made up five strokes on leader Angela Stanford on Saturday in the Lorena Ochoa Invitational, shooting a 5-under 67 to cut her deficit to just a stroke with one round left

Making her second-to-last start before leaving the LPGA Tour, Sorenstam eagled the par-5 10th and added six birdies. The Swedish star is seeking her third tour victory in Mexico -- and first since the 2006 Mastercard Classic.

The 72-time tour champion will need to get past Stanford, the Bell Micro LPGA Classic winner in September who has four straight top-five finishes. Stanford followed opening rounds of 68 and 66 with a 72 on Saturday.

Australia's Katherine Hull (66) was two strokes back. South Korea's Jee Young Lee (69) was 7 under and compatriot Sun Young Yoo (70) was another shot behind.

Stanford had two birdies and two bogeys in her even-par round.

Tournament host Lorena Ochoa celebrated her 27th birthday with her best round of the week, a 70 that left her eight strokes back at 2 under. LPGA Championship winner Yani Tseng, No. 2 in the world behind Ochoa, also was 2 under after a 78.

At the beginning and the end of the round, the fans sang Happy Birthday to Ochoa.

Leaderboard – Round 3:

1. Angela Stanford                    68 66 72 206 -10
2. Annika Sorenstam                 68 72 67 207 - 9
3. Katherine Hull                       71 71 66 208 - 8
4. Jee Young Lee                      69 71 69 209 - 7
5. Sun Young Yoo                     70 70 70 210 - 6
6. Brittany Lang                        68 74 69 211 - 5
    In-Kyung Kim                       70 71 70 211 - 5
8. Cristie Kerr                           71 72 69 212 - 4
    Teresa Lu                            72 71 69 212 - 4
    Jeong Jang                          73 68 71 212 - 4
    Nicole Catrale                       68 72 72 212 - 4

Source: AP, LPGA Tour