Playing partners Karrie Webb and Annika Sorenstam dueled to a draw Saturday, so the LPGA Tournament of Champions will pair them up again today.
Friends as well as foes, Webb and Sorenstam exchanged the lead four times Saturday before finishing the third round tied at 10-under-par 206.Barb Mucha was in third place at 9 under. Dawn Coe-Jones, who shot 67 for the best score of the day, was a distant fourth at 4 under in the season-opening tournament, sponsored by Chrysler Plymouth.
The final round should further fuel a budding rivalry between Webb and Sorenstam.
"I'm looking forward to it," Sorenstam said. "I get inspired playing with her. She hits every shot solid, and I think I play better when I'm playing with somebody who hits shots like she does."
Webb was the LPGA's rookie of the year and first $1 million winner in 1996, while Sorenstam is the two-time defending U.S. Open champion. They seemed to enjoy their duel Saturday, frequently sharing a laugh even as they swapped the lead.
"We've known each other for about three years," Webb said. "We don't hang out a lot off the course, but we're friends on the course."
Mucha could make it more than a two-way battle, even though she is weak from a stubborn viral infection.
"I don't know if I'm a darkhorse, but I'm the sick horse," she joked. "I'm glad the attention is going to be on those two. I don't need any added pressure being this tired."
Webb, the leader after each of the first two rounds, stayed in front despite the ugliest shot of the day. Her tee shot on the par-4 16th hole landed in a sand-filled divot, and she then chunked a 6-iron 80 yards into a canal running along the fairway.
"It's just one of those unlucky breaks," Webb said of her poor lie. "I've always believed it's one of those rules that should be changed. You can't be in the middle of the fairway and be penalized by being in a sand-filled divot."
The Aussie settled for 69, 3 under par at the Weston Hills Country Club.
Sorenstam shot 68. The Swede had six birdies but also two bogeys, missing the green on No. 11 and blowing a two-foot putt on No. 17.
Four of her birdie putts ranged from 15 to 25 feet, and she saved par with a 12-footer at No. 14.
"I'm amazed I'm playing this well," said Sorenstam, who was married a week ago. "I haven't practiced, and mentally I'm not prepared. But it's a lot of fun. Maybe that's why I'm playing well."
Mucha shared the lead briefly on the front nine and shot 69. Her only bogey came when she missed the green at No. 9.
DIVOTS: Jenny Lidback had the tournament's second hole-in-one in as many days. She aced the 147-yard 17th hole with a 5-iron on her way to a 72-217. Trish Johnson had a hole-in-one Friday on No. 3. . . . On a mild, cloudy day with a light breeze, 15 golfers in the field of 37 broke par. Only Webb broke par in the windy opening round. . . . Becky Iverson was the lone golfer to birdie unlucky No. 13 on her way to a 69-219.