Lorena Ochoa Takes 6-Shot Lead After Three Rounds Of Women's British Open

ST. ANDREWS, Scotland (AP) _ Lorena Ochoa shot a par 73 Saturday for a six-stroke lead after three rounds of the Women's British Open, the only player under par for the tournament. <br/><br/>It was

Saturday, August 4th 2007, 2:42 pm

By: News On 6

ST. ANDREWS, Scotland (AP) _ Lorena Ochoa shot a par 73 Saturday for a six-stroke lead after three rounds of the Women's British Open, the only player under par for the tournament.

It was the second straight par round for the top-ranked Mexican, who leads at 6-under 213 after her main rivals struggled in wind gusting up to 35 mph across the Old Course.

``It is one of my best rounds of golf in my career,'' Ochoa said. ``I hope I will do the same again tomorrow. It was a really tough day, but I managed to control my shots. I was close to finishing 1 under par.''

Chasing her first major, Ochoa is six shots ahead of Linda Wessberg of Sweden (72), one of only three players to finish under par on the day. Annika Sorenstam (77) of Sweden is one of four players at 1-over 220.

Ochoa sank a 30-foot birdie putt at the third and just missed an amazing 60-foot eagle at the fifth. The ball rolled up one slope and down another to creep past the rim of the cup and leave her a 1-foot birdie.

She also benefited from a two-shot swing at the 12th where she holed a 2-foot birdie putt and Wendy Ward missed a 7-foot putt for bogey.

Ward had six bogeys and a double-bogey 7 at the 17th where she needed four shots to reach the green. Her 80 gives her a share of seventh place on 2-over 221, eight shots off the lead after starting at 5 under.

Sorenstam bogeyed four holes on the outward nine, but said she made a good recovery.

``I was just trying to be smart, hit fairways and greens and go from there,'' Sorenstam said. ``I believe I shot level-par the last 10 or 11 holes. I'll take that any time in a championship like this. I just didn't get off to a good start.''

Karine Icher of France, who began the day on 3 under, bogeyed the first two holes and struggled to a 77 to finish 1 over.

Catriona Matthew, starting at 5 under and getting huge support from her fellow Scots, played her second shot into the Swilcan Burn creek to bogey the first hole. She finished with an 80 for a 2-over 221.

Defending champion Sherri Steinhauer fared even worse.

The three-time champion started with two bogeys to slide from 3 under to 2 over after the first nine. She eventually made an 80 to finish 4-over 223 and out of contention for a fourth title.

While most players were shooting high 70s or into the 80s in the strong wind, Stacy Prammanasudh shot a 1-under 72. The American had three birdies and moved up from 52nd to 12th at 3-over 222.

Lotta Wahlin of Sweden justified her decision to walk off the course in near darkness after 16 holes on Friday and continue her round just after dawn on Saturday. She birdied the 17th and finished at 5 under to just make the cut.

After a short break, she was back on the first tee and finished at 5-over 78 for a 10-over 229.