Kerr Shoots For Title, Top Ranking At LPGA Championship

Pittsford, NY, United States (AHN) – After three rounds at the LPGA Championship, it just isn’t a fair fight.

Cristie Kerr made a major statement with her third round play Saturday at the LPGA Championship at Locust Hill Country Club. This tournament is hers and she has got her eye on something else as well.

“I obviously want to try to become the No. 1 player in the world. I feel like I’m poised to do it,” Kerr said before her third round.

She then went out and stretched her five-shot second round lead to eight shots going into Sunday’s final 18 holes.

Rainy conditions couldn’t slow Kerr down as she birdied four of five holes on a back nine run that started at the 11th hole.

By the time she reached the 16th, she was 13-under for the tournament and would finish with three pars for a 69 that put her eight in front of a pair of former Arizona State golfers — Jimin Kang and Azahara Munoz along with Mika Miyazato.

Kerr’s 69 put her at 203 with plenty of breathing room going into the final 18 holes.

She was nine shots in front of Jiyai Shin, the world’s former No. 1, and Song Hee Kim, who finished the day tied at 212.

Kerr would have to run into a disastrous final round to even give her pursuers a chance, but the way she’s been, there’s no indication she won run away with the title on Sunday.

She got off to a slow start with a bogey at the second hole but bounced back with birdies at three and four and turned one-under.

Kerr then played the first six holes of the back nine without a par but had four birdies, two bogeys on her way to a third straight sub-70 round on the tight, tree-lined course.

One thing that has been outstanding is her putting. She began looking for a new putter before the State Farm Classic. She tried 15 different models.

Kerr finally chose an Odyssey Marksman, with an alignment line on the top. “I had been having problems lining up my putts,” she said.

She’s had no trouble this week.

Kerr had a few more problems Saturday as she had three bogeys after making only one in her first 36 holes. But she again had six birdies, as she did on Friday.

Even with the rainy, nasty conditions, Kerr was unflappable.

If she continues her pace, she could set the record for largest margin of victory in this event. That mark stands at 11 shots by Betsy King back in 1992.

Munoz, a leading candidate for rookie of the year and one of the three players in second place said after her round that it’s Kerr’s tournament.

“Probably,” she said. “She’s (Kerr) playing amazing. I want to ask her what her secret is, 13-under is amazing.”

Kerr’s secret is her eye is squarely on her second major.

And the No. 1 ranking.

---