Football
Associated Press 18y

Thai rookie Nirapathpongporn leads at Corning

CORNING, N.Y. -- Even after shooting the low round of the
day, Jeong Jang was surprised.

"I think I'm leading," Jang said.

Indeed, she was.

Jang shot a 6-under 66 on Saturday to take the third-round lead
in the LPGA Corning Classic. She was at 15-under 201, three shots
ahead of Brandie Burton (70), first-round co-leader Nancy Scranton
(70), and Thai rookie Virada Nirapathpongporn (71), who began the
day one shot ahead.

Hee-Won Han (69) was another shot behind, and 2002 Corning
champion Laura Diaz (67), rookie Morgan Pressel (68), and Kris
Tamulis (69) were tied at 10-under 206.

Meena Lee (70), who shared the first-round lead, was among five
players at 207, and 1988 Corning champ Sherri Turner was in a group
of four at 208.

Jang was nearly flawless from tee to green, missing only one
fairway and making 16-of-18 greens in regulation. The lone fairway
she missed came at 18, and it led to her only bogey of the day.

"Every single hole I hit it really good," she said. "It makes
it easy. That's what I needed."

Jang had one victory in her first six years on tour, but it came
in a major -- last year's British Open. She also was in a three-way
tie for the lead heading into the final round of the Office Depot
Championship last year and tied for sixth.

"I like to be leading," said Jang, who led the tour in 2005
with 331 birdies. "But I'm going to be a little nervous."

Ditto for Nirapathpongporn. She began the day with a bogey and
never mustered a charge as she did in shooting 66 and 67 over the
first two rounds. Two birdies on the back nine kept her close,
though.

"I kept plugging away and finally got my rhythm. I wasn't real
comfortable on the front," Nirapathpongporn said. "The nerves.
I'm glad I got to do this today (begin the round in the lead), not
tomorrow."

Pressel, who missed eagle putts by inches at the two short
par-5s on the front side in the second round, made eagle at both on
Saturday. She hit an 11-wood inside 2 feet at No. 3, then sank a
40-foot putt than broke 4 feet right-to-left on the fifth. The
gallery roared when the ball dropped in the hole and Pressel raised
her arms in triumph as she walked off.

That left her at 10 under, but there was no charge on the back
nine to match the 64 she had on Friday. Pressel had a three-putt
bogey from 8 feet on the par-5 12th hole, which was lengthened 64
yards this year to 529, before making birdie at 16.

"That was crazy," said Pressel, who turned 18 on Tuesday.
"You just consider yourself very lucky. I couldn't get anything to
drop after that. I really didn't feel like I played well today. I
just got lucky. I have to be aggressive tomorrow."

Vicki Goetze-Ackerman, who did not make bogey in the first two
rounds, was at 9 under to start her first weekend round of the
year, and strung six straight pars before running into trouble. She
made double-bogey at No. 7 after being assessed a penalty stroke on
the green, then bogeyed Nos. 9 and 12 and finished at 4-over 76, 10
shots behind.

The forecast for Sunday was calling for sunny skies and
temperatures in the mid-80s, and that figured to make the
short-and-narrow Corning Country Club course very forgiving.

"You're definitely going to have to go low tomorrow," Diaz
said as she rocked her 4-month-old son Cooper in her arms. "I'm
just going to go out and see how many birdies I can make."

Burton birdied the first two holes for the second straight day
to surge into the lead, but she was unable to keep up the charge.
She was looking forward to the heat wave.

"It's good for my body with all the surgeries I've had," said
the 16-year-veteran, who has had eight operations in her career.
"The warmer the better."<
^Divots:@ Pressel hit only 9-of-14 fairways and needed 32 putts,
three more than Jang and six more than Nirapathpongporn. ... No
rookie has won Corning in the tournament's 27-year history, but
either Nirapathpongporn or Pressel could break that streak.

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