LPGA Tour Championship - 3rd Round

Amy Yang is the leader at -6 through 54 holes at the LPGA Tour Championship.  Maria Hjorth is one shot back in second place, Cristie Kerr and Seon Hwa Lee are tied for third at -3 while Laura Diaz is in fifth place at -2.

Yang started the round with a three-shot lead but the margin vanished almost immediately.  Amy double-bogeyed 2 while playing partners Hjorth and Lee birdied 1 and 2 respectively, creating a three-way tie at -5.  From there, the threesome (and a couple of others) basically jockeyed for position all day.  Hjorth reached -6 twice, after birdies at 3 and 12 but bogeys at 7 and 14 kicked her back to -5.  Yang was +3 on the day through 11 holes and finally got going with a birdie at 12.  She gave the shot back at 15, falling to -4, but Amy closed with birdies at 17 and 18 to take the overnight lead.  Lee did much of the same - a birdie at 9 created another three-way tie for first but Seon Hwa double-bogeyed 12 and bogeyed 13 to fall to -1.  Birdies at 15 and 16 put Lee back in the hunt.

Look who's here...Kerr posted her third straight 71 to draw within three shots of the lead and the Player of the Year Award.  Actually, Cristie got within one shot after she birdied 11 but she gave one back at 12 and only managed one more birdie the rest of the way.  Still, she's got to like her chances - and she's playing in the final Sunday threesome to boot.  Nope - twosomes for the final round put Kerr in the next-to-last pairing.  As for the Vare Trophy, Kerr currently trails Na Yeon Choi (+1 T9) by two shots.  If Cristie can make up three shots on NYC tomorrow, the Vare is hers.  Choi is barely outside my standard six-shot window for being in contention but with only eight players in front of her, that task becomes slightly less daunting.  Ai Miyazato missed the final-round cut by one and Jiyai Shin missed it by a lot so their POY dreams are officially over.  Yani Tseng made the final-round cut on the number at +6 but that's academic:  Tseng will win POY unless Kerr or Choi wins the event.  NYC already has clinched one honor - the money list title is hers because Shin will finish behind her.

In-Kyung Kim moved up to even par with a 70 while Morgan Pressel and Katherine Hull regressed to that level (Pressel shot 74, Hull bogeyed four of her last five holes).  That's no typo in the first paragraph - Laura Diaz is in fifth place after posting the only sub-70 round today, a 69.  Laura is looking for her first Top 10 in over two years and her first victory since 2002.  Being one of only five players within four shots of the lead, she certainly has a good chance to end both of those droughts.

The coverage on Golf Channel airs at 7:30pm EST.