Fudoh leads British Open as Sorenstam’s last major hopes fade

Published 12:11 am Sunday, August 3, 2008

SUNNINGDALE, England — Yuri Fudoh of Japan shot a 3-under 69 to lead by one stroke after the third round of the Women’s British Open on Saturday.

Fudoh, who qualified for the tournament by finishing in the top 15 of the championship a year ago at St. Andrew’s, is at 13-under 203 at Sunningdale and in sight of her first major title.

Ji-Yai Shin of South Korea (70) is second after making a bogey at the 18th. Shin drove her tee shot into the rough, then pulled her second shot into the gallery. Taking a drop, she pitched 20 feet past the hole and then missed the par putt.

Fudoh was the leading money winner on the Japanese LPGA from 2000-05 and has won 45 tournaments in her home country. She is using veteran caddie Peter Coleman, who helped Bernhard Langer win two Masters titles.

“He has helped on the distance and I think 50 percent of what I have done is because of the caddie,” Fudoh said through an interpreter.

Fudoh said she has no plans to move to the LPGA Tour in the United States.

“I don’t think I have enough power to play on the LPGA, like physical condition,” she said.

Ai Miyazato of Japan (68) is two shots back from Fudoh. Then came two Americans, Cristie Kerr (70) and Juli Inkster (71), who are another stroke back.

Inkster, who is aiming to win her eighth major a record 24 years after her first, started one shot behind Shin and Fudoh at 9 under. She took the lead by pitching her second shot to within 8 feet of the flag at the first hole and making the eagle putt.

Aiming to become the oldest winner of a women’s major at age 48, she narrowly missed another eagle at the second when she pitched out of the rough and the ball rolled just past the flag for a short birdie putt to go to 12 under. But Inkster lost her way soon after the turn, dropping shots at the 11th and 12th and at the 17th, where her 30-foot par putt shaved the hole. At the 18th, she missed a 4-foot birdie putt.

Inkster wants to go one better than the 53-year-old Greg Norman, who almost became the oldest winner of a men’s major two weeks ago when he led the British Open at Turnberry with nine holes to play.

“I’m happy for what he did and he’s a great player and he seems like the Greg Norman of old,” Inkster said. “But I’ve got to go out there tomorrow and play golf and I don’t think Greg Norman is going to help me around, so I have to do it on my own.”

Defending champion Lorena Ochoa (71) also had a bad back nine to fall five shots off the lead. Having picked up four shots before the turn to move within one of the lead, the Mexican became wild off the tee, finding the rough at the 11th, 17th and 18th to drop three shots.

Annika Sorenstam, who won in 2003 among her 10 majors, shot a 70 for her best round of the week. But two late bogeys prevented her from becoming a title threat in her last major championship.

The Swede birdied the second and ninth holes and eagled the 11th with a 38-yard chip-in. She finished at 2-under 214.

Sorenstam had been still hoping to mount a challenge after two level-par rounds of 72, but dropped shots at the 13th and 17th holes. She also left a 10-foot birdie putt at the last just inches short of the hole.

Sorenstam, who announced in May that she would retire at the end of the year, is hoping her last day in a major will give her the sort of finish she wants.

Other tournaments

BRIDGESTONE INVITATIONAL: Phil Mickelson and Vijay Singh slugged it out in the trees and on the greens throughout an up-and-down day at the Bridgestone Invitational in Akron, Ohio, until they wound up in a tie for the lead with a far more conventional Lee Westwood.

Mickelson went six straight holes without hitting a fairway, then poured it on late with three straight birdies until he finished with a bogey from the fairway for a 2-under 68.

Singh twice missed par putts from inside 3½ feet, but chipped in from a scary lie above the third hole for birdie and managed a 69. Westwood drove the ball as well as he ever has and made long putts for birdie and par on his way to a 67.

They all were at 8-under 202 and gave this World Golf Championship a truly global feel — three players from three parts of the world, each seeking his first WGC title.

One shot behind was Stuart Appleby of Australia, the only player to compete in all 29 of these events since they began 10 years ago.

Mickelson won at Firestone a dozen years ago before it was a WGC event, and this might be his best chance at a world title. After straightening out his tee shots, he closed out his string of birdies by going for the green on the 620-yard 16th hole, hitting a hybrid into the back bunker and getting up and down.

But he lost the outright lead on the final hole with a wedge in his hand, blocking the shot enough that it clipped a tree and came up well short of the green. Mickelson failed to save par from 8 feet.

On a Firestone South course that was slowly starting to dry, the third round separated what had been a jammed leaderboard. Even so, 10 players were separated by four shots going into the final round, a group that included Darren Clarke, who had a 65 and was four behind as he tries to win a third WGC title.

U.S. SENIOR OPEN: Eduardo Romero of Argentina grabbed the 54-hole lead at the U.S. Senior Open with a 5-under-par 65 in Colorado Springs, Colo.

Romero’s three-day total of 9-under 201 is two shots ahead of second-round leader Fred Funk and three ahead of John Cook.

Funk finished with a 69 after three bogeys on the difficult back nine at The Broadmoor’s East Course. Cook carded a 66 on the mountainous course that drew praise from the golfers one day after they grumbled about difficult pin placements.