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ASSOCIATED PRESS
Michelle Wie lined up a putt on the seventh hole Saturday on her way to a 68.
IRVING, Texas » Moving day at the North Texas LPGA Shootout featured lots of movement but very little separation.
Stacy Lewis and Meena Lee finished the third round tied at 9-under 204, one stroke clear of Suzann Pettersen, Julieta Granada and Dori Carter.
With nine players within two strokes of the lead and 17 within four entering Sunday’s final round, the Shootout has become, well, a shootout.
The group of seven at 7 under includes Cristie Kerr, Christina Kim and Natalie Gulbis. No. 1 Inbee Park, the defending champion, is 6 under after two 68s. And Michelle Wie, No. 1 on the money list, also shot 68 to move within four strokes of the lead.
"You gotta go and try to go super low," said Pettersen, who cut three strokes off her second-round score with a 68. "I mean, there’s too many in the hunt. Everyone is going to chase the course."
Low scores have been available. Lewis and Lee shot 64s in the second round, and Jennifer Johnson shot 65 on Saturday.
Third-round conditions, sunny and calm, were ideal for scoring. Forty-five players broke par.
But wind, the great equalizer, is on its way. The forecast calls for breezes of 15-25 mph. Saturday’s wind blew from the southeast. Sunday’s wind will be from the southwest.
"It’s going to play hard, which I love," said Lewis, a native of The Woodlands. "The best player is definitely going to win in the wind."
Lewis has ample experience playing with the lead. She has entered the final round with at least a share of the lead eight times in her career, winning five of those.
Over her past 33 starts, she has finished among the top three 11 times.
But the eight-time winner has not celebrated a victory in 2014. She has finished second six times in 16 starts since her last win at the Ricoh British Open.
Holmes clear by a stroke
CHARLOTTE, N.C. » Phil Mickelson’s best round of the year wasn’t enough for him to stay in the lead in the Wells Fargo Championship, just enough to give him a chance to end his slowest start to a season in 11 years.
J.B. Holmes overpowered Quail Hollow on a good day for scoring, and he made a 20-foot birdie putt from the fringe on the final hole for a 6-under 66. That wound up giving him a one-shot lead when Martin Flores made his only bogey on the final hole. Mickelson had a 63 and was two shots behind.
Langer pulling away
THE WOODLANDS, Texas » Bernhard Langer shot a 4-under 68 to open a three-stroke lead in the Champions Tour’s Insperity Invitational.
Langer had a 10-under 134 total at The Woodlands Country Club.
Colin Montgomerie was second after a 66, the best round of the day.
Hansen catches Pittayarat
SINGAPORE » Denmark’s Anders Hansen shot a 5-under 67 for a share of the lead with Thailand’s Panuphol Pittayarat in The Championship at Laguna National.
Hansen, playing his fourth event since returning from a wrist injury, matched Pittayarat (69) at 16-under 200. American David Lipsky (70) and Dutchman Robert-Jan Derksen (67) were two strokes back.
