Lewis & Lee on Top of North Texas LPGA Shootout


There was a switch in the names atop the leaderboard Saturday in the North Texas LPGA Shootout. Now setting the pace in the $1.3 million, 72-hole event at Las Colinas Country Club in Irving, Texas, are 36-hole co-leader Meena Lee and Stacy Lewis.

Lee, who began play tied for the lead with Germany's Caroline Masson, carded a 1-under 70 to reach 9-under 204, the same total as Lewis, who shot 69.

Lee is looking for her first in eight years; the 32-year-old South Korean has two LPGA victories, with her last coming in 2006 Fields Open in Hawaii.

Lee said she could have gotten more out of her round but struggled on the greens at Las Colinas. "I didn't really take advantage of a lot of birdie chances today, so I want to make more birdies tomorrow and see how it goes," she said.

That said, Lee is excited about Sunday's final round and her first win in a long time. "I gained a lot of confidence this week and then we have one week off next week and then we still have four tournaments to go after that. So I'm very excited and happy in what I can do."

Tied for third at 8-under 205 are Paraguay's Julieta Granada (68), American Dori Carter (68) and Norway's Suzann Pettersen (68).

Pettersen, in her second tournament since sitting out a month due to a back injury, has a simple game plan for Sunday. "You gotta go and try to go super-low," said the 33-year-old, a 14-time LPGA winner.

"I mean there's too many in the hunt. Everyone is going to chase the course. So I think you gotta go pretty low tomorrow to win this outright."

Only two strokes behind Lee and Lewis are Americans Jennifer Johnson (65), Kim Kaufman (68), Cristie Kerr (69), Christina Kim (70) and Natalie Gulbis (71), along with Thailand's Thidapa Suwannapura (68) and South Korea's Jenny Shin (68).

No. 1-ranked and defending champion Inbee Park shot a 68 to rise into a tie for 13th with fellow Korean Na Yeon Choi (66) at 6-under. Sharing 15th at 5-under are Michelle Wie (68), Lexi Thompson (67) and Sarah Kemp (68).

After opening with two straight 67s, Masson struggled to a 4-over 75. The German has a victory on the Ladies European Tour but is winless on the LPGA.

For all the scores, visit www.lpga.com.