HSBC Women's Champions - 3rd Round

Katherine Hull carded a 66 (-11 overall) to take a two shot lead with one round to go at the HSBC Women's Champions.  Angela Stanford also put up 66 and stands in second place at -9.  Sun Young Yoo is currently in third place at -8, Mi Hyun Kim is fourth at -7 and Paula Creamer is fifth at -6.

Lightning and strong thunderstorms delayed the finish for the last six groups, who had to wait over two hours to get in their last couple of holes.  The brilliant rounds by Hull and Stanford finally created some separation from the field, as now only the top five players are within five shots and only ten are within six.  Hull bogeyed once (at the par-4 6^th) but birdied seven times.  Stanford suffered no bogeys and birdied four times on the back nine alone.  Yoo posted a 68 to stay within three shots but coulda/shoulda/woulda joined Stanford in second place had she not bogeyed 1 or 17.  Kim's third straight round under par (70 on Saturday) lends more hope that she has finally worked her way back from that knee surgery prior to the 2008 season.

Neither of the second-round co-leaders fared too well.  Creamer bogeyed four times (including one at 18) to post 72.  Jane Park's scorecard shows five bogeys, three of them on the back nine, and a total of 73.  Park sits at -5 tied for sixth with Lorena Ochoa, Ji-Yai Shin, Juli Inkster and Amy Yang (there's a good cross-section of the LPGA population right there).  One step further back are Yani Tseng, Angela Park, Eun-Hee Ji and Ai Miyazato.  The nine players I just listed aren't quite out of the hunt but they'll need to post the lowest number of the week to have any chance.

Hull and Stanford have been two of the best players on Tour over the last few months.  Kim and Creamer have gotten into the winner's circle enough times that you should never be surprised when they win.  It's natural to expect that one of those four will come out on top tomorrow.  But don't discount Sun Young Yoo.  She's been bouncing in and out of my Top 30 for almost a year now so she is certainly a good enough player to get it done.