Tres Marias Championship - 3rd Round

Ai Miyazato leads by one shot going into the final round of the Tres Marias Championship.  Michelle Wie and Brittany Lincicome are tied for second at -12 while Na Yeon Choi and Stacy Lewis are tied for fourth at -11.  Lorena Ochoa is alone in sixth at -10, three shots behind the leader.

After I posted last night recap, two important scoring changes were made.  Miyazato's Friday score was actually 72 and not 73, and Wie's 67 was changed to a 68 (a bogey at 14 had originally been missed).  So Michelle's overnight lead was only one shot over Lincicome and Miyazato, who were tied at -11.  On Saturday, one or more of those three held the lead all day long.  Wie birdied 3 to take a two-shot lead.  Brittany birdied 4 but Michelle answered at 5 to remain up by two at -14.  Ai had bogeyed 3 but turned it around with birdies at 6 and 7 to reach -12.  Lincicome birdied 7 and 8 to tie for the lead.  Both leaders bogeyed 9 to drop back to -13, one in front of Miyazato.

Wie opened the back nine with a birdie but immediately gave the shot back at 11.  Miyazato's birdie at 12 created a three-way tie for the lead.  Lincicome birdied 13 to take sole possession at -14 but Michelle joined her with a birdie at 14.  15 was a sore spot for the final threesome as they all took bogey.  Ai re-created the three-way tie at -13 with a birdie at 16.  A bogey at 17 dropped Wie out of the tie and one at 18 did the same to Lincicome.  Two pars at the end left Miyazato alone in first.

Lewis made the best Saturday run into contention as she reached -12 after a birdie at 14.  A bogey at 16 left her two back going to Sunday.  On two separate occasions Choi was -12 - lastly through 13 holes - but bogeys at 14 and 16 derailed her.  A closing birdie at 18 drew NYC back to within two.  Ochoa bogeyed twice on the back nine but still managed a 70 and is definitely within striking distance.  Aside from the top five, nobody is within five shots of the leader.  Maria Hjorth and Mindy Kim are tied for seventh at -7, six strokes behind with Amanda Blumenherst, Song-Hee Kim and Irene Cho seven back.  Those players will have to threaten Miyazato's course/tournament record 63 on Sunday to have any chance.

Honestly, any of the top five could be expected to pull out the win tomorrow and each would have a fine storyline to go along with it.  Will it be the third victory of 2010 for Miyazato, as she makes her push to ascend to #1?  Will it be Wie's second straight win on Mexican turf?  Will it be a Lincicome surprise, winning from out of the blue for the second year running?  Will it be the first official victory for Lewis, the NCAA champion out of Arkansas who won a rain-shortened unofficial event in her home state in 2007 and of whom great things were expected when she played so well at the 2008 U.S. Open?  Or will it be the local favorite delivering a storybook finish to an amazing career in front of the home folks?