Day Three at Pine Needles

Posted 9:52 p.m. Jun 30, 2007 — Updated 3:03 p.m. Jul 1, 2007

Ryan Craig

Finally some good weather on Saturday, and with it some good golf from the American contingent. Morgan Pressel is leading the charge for the Stars and Stripes, as she heads into round three in fifth place after a second round one-under 70.

During her press conference, she had nice words for Karrie Webb, a two-time U.S. Open champion who chose a bad day to have a bad day here in round one. Webb's 12-over 83 killed her chances to be around for the weekend, but didn't kill her spirits. Pressel says her playing partner even laughed at herself a little bit, saying "she was joking when she made birdie on five, she was like 'I forgot what that felt like to make birdie.'"

Webb also had some words of encouragement for the young phenom. "She was really positive," Pressel noted, "she just said you're in a great spot, just stay patient...and to get words like that from such a great champion is very nice."

Webb is part of the old guard by present-day standards on the LPGA tour, where so much of the talent resides in the 18-26 age group. However, the youngsters could learn a lot about dignity, class, and sportsmanship from players like Webb.

In other news, Michelle Wie once again failed to finish a tournament. Her wrist acted up on her and she had to withdraw, not that it would have mattered because her score wasn't going to be close to the cut line anyway. It's probably time for Wie to shut it down again for a while - she's not doing anybody any good trying to gut it out at these tournaments. I give her credit for giving her best when she is clearly not at one-hundred percent, but at a certain point you have to just give in to the fact that the problem is not going away. Here's hoping she can put her pride aside for a bit and let herself heal, both the tour and the player will benefit in the long run.

Alexis Thompson made the weekend in her first Open, well, sort of. Weather pushed the end of her second round into Saturday. When it was all said and done though, Thompson held her own reasonably well. She shot 76-82, good for a +16 score that trumped the likes of past-Open champion Hilary Lunke and tour mainstay and former Duke player Brittany Lang - not bad for someone fresh out of the sixth grade. As a means of comparison, when Morgan Pressel played in the Open here at age 13, she shot 77-77, only four shots better than Thompson.

UPDATE 6:10pm:

All aboard the birdie train. Lorena Ochoa is tearing up the course early in her third round - two birdies in her first three holes. The stars may be lining up for the number-one ranked player in the world - she was one of the few players that welcomed the weather delays, as she was still recovering from a busy week in Mexico. It looks like the extra rest did her some good.

Others notables playing well to begin round three: Cristie Kerr (-2 through 6), Brittany Lincicome (-2 through 10), Paula Creamer (-2 through 8) and Natalie Gulbis (-1 through 7)

UPDATE 7:22pm:

Cristie Kerr is making a serious run. She is currently sitting one shot off the lead at three under, after shooting -4 through the first ten holes of her third round. Kerr is an interesting player to watch this week. I had a chance to talk with her up in Williamsburg, VA a few weeks ago at a tournament there, and she struck me as a no-nonsense type of person who knew she was out there to do a job. U.S. Opens have been good to her in the past - she was the low-amateur at this very course in 1996, prompting her to turn pro, and her best career finish at a major was at the 2000 U.S. Women's Open in Gurnee, Illinois.

We continue the Ochoa watch as well...now three under through nine for her third round...one shot back and closing...

UPDATE 7:29pm:

Apparently Cristie likes my blogging - she just birdied the 11th hole and has moved into a tie for the lead with Jiyai Shin and Angela Park at -4. This round could be something special for Kerr...hopefully the daylight holds out for her...

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