Eagle-eyed Swede senses victory

Anna Nordqvist of Sweden shot a solid 67 to stay well ahead of Michelle Wie and defending champion Park Inbee at a dry and sunny Siam Country Club Pattaya Old Course in the third round of the US$1.5-million Honda LPGA Thailand yesterday.

The 6,568-yard layout soaked up sunshine for the first time yesterday after two days of played under dark and rainy skies. Rain or shine, neither seemed to bother the highly focused Swede, who sank four birdies and one eagle against a lone bogey to grab a four-stroke lead with an 11-under 205. Today, she has the chance to put an end to a title drought that stretches back to the LPGA Tour Championship in Orlando in November 2009.

“What I did in the off-season is starting to pay off. I love to compete. Everyone who knows me knows how much I hate to lose. I know I’m in a tough position but the more you are in there, the more comfortable you are. I will try to keep myself in a good position and do my best,” said Nordqvist, who eagled the 10th to take an outright lead on eight-under and never looked back.

After back-to-back 71s, defending champion Inbee finally proved she doesn’t hold the world No 1 spot for nothing. She improved with a third-round 67, highlighted by four straight birdies from holes 10 to 13 for a total 7-under 209.  “I was four behind the leader. The last couple of days I’ve been a little bit rusty after a five-week break. I feel a lot more comfortable and a lot less nervous [now],” said Inbee who was tied for second with crowd favourite Wie, who hit a bogey-free 68. 

“Playing with Stacy [Lewis] and Sandra [Gal)] was really fun. There were a couple of hard pins and a couple of easy pins. Didn’t really take advantage of the par-5s like I wanted to, but I can’t really complain about it. Hopefully tomorrow I’ll just have a lot more birdies,” said Wie, the towering Korean-American looking for her third career win after the 2009 Lorena Ochoa Invitational and 2010 Canadian Open. 

“It’s not a question of how much I want it. I go out there tomorrow with the thought that it’s another day. I will be just going out to try and take advantage of being in contention and make a lot of birdies and we’ll see what happens. I really want that win, but I’m not going to put added pressure on myself,” said Wie, who was one shot ahead of Julieta Granada of Paraguay, 210.

Two-time champion and former world No 1 Yani Tseng of Taiwan carded a 66 for a three-day total of 5-under 211 to take the fifth spot shared by Americans Cristie Kerr and Lexi Thomson and Kiwi teen prodigy Lydia Ko. At joint ninth was Catriona Matthew, who almost matched the tournament’s lowest round of 63 before finishing double bogey. The 44-year-old mother-of-two hit a 65 for 4-under 212.

“I gave myself a lot of chances and just holed them all today … obviously a disappointing way to finish,” said the 2009 British Open winner who was ninth along with South Korean Park Se Ri and Ryu So Yoen, Feng Shanshan of China, Australian Carrie Webb, German Sandra Gal, American Jennifer Johnson, Angela Stanford, and Swede Caroline Hedwall. 

Thidapa Suwannapura maintained her status as top Thai after firing 70 for a 3-under 213. She shared 19th with Americans Gerina Piller, Stacy Lewis and Spaniard Azahara Munoz.

“I stuck to my game plan from Friday by going for the pin position when opportunities came and tried to save par at difficult holes. This course can be tough and at the same time can give you good scores. 

I just need to play with a prudent game plan,” said the 21-year-old Bangkokian who has put in her best scores on the course so far.

“With this kind of score, it can turn around easily at any time. I just need to be consistent first and capitalise on birdie chances,” said Thidapa, who is world No 111. Thai No 1 Pornanong Phatlum had a finishing bogey for a 73 and a total of 217.