Lorena Ochoa & Heather Young share lead

Lorena Ochoa had already watched three birdie putts inside 10 feet tickle the edge of the cup, each one keeping her from seizing control in the Kraft Nabisco Championship.

Standing over an 8-foot birdie on her final hole Friday, she figured she was due.

But as the fans packed into the bleachers rose to celebrate, the ball dove hard to the left, caught the edge and spun all the way around the cup. No one was more stunned than Ochoa.

“I didn’t have anymore emotions to show,” she said. “I was done and ready to go home. That was the story of my day.”

But she was still atop the leaderboard, and that’s been the story of her year.

Ochoa soon got over the disappointment of having to settle for a 1-under 71 to realize she was in great shape going into the weekend of the first major of the year, tied with Heather Young, who overcame a sloppy start with five birdies to salvage a 70.

They were at 5-under 139.

“I can’t complain,” Ochoa said. “I left a few putts out there that hurt, but that’s the way it is. It’s a major championship. You have a couple of days to go. I’m in a good position. It’s where I like to be.”

They were a stroke ahead of Mi Hyun Kim and Maria Hjorth, who both shot 70 with vastly different games. Hjorth is among the longest hitters, and kept her tee shots in play while playing in the morning. Kim is among the shortest, an even greater disadvantage considering the fairways are soft and the greens are hard as bricks.

“Lorena is a strong player. She hits it far,” Kim said. “This course is easy for her.”

Annika Sorenstam shot her 16th consecutive round under par this year, a 2-under 70, that left her only two shots behind. Sorenstam has not been in this position at a major going into the weekend since winning the U.S. Women’s Open at Newport two years ago.

She is not nearly as long as she used to be—30 yards behind Ochoa, according to LPGA statistics—but her biggest problem was a stomach ache on the back nine that caused her to double over when she was speaking to reporters after her round.

“This course is tough enough,” Sorenstam said after a 70. “You don’t need a stomach ache on top of it.”

Ochoa had a chance to put a real hurt on everyone.

The No. 1 player quickly tied for the lead when she two-putted for birdie on the par-5 second. It looked as though she was getting ready to pull away from the field in a hurry, but the putter failed to cooperate.

She was tentative on a 7-foot birdie at the par-3 fifth. She winced when a 6-foot birdie slid by the cup on the next hole. Ochoa started the back nine with consecutive birdies, a 9-iron from the rough to 6 feet on No. 10 and a 5-wood from a downhill like to 35 feet for her second two-putt birdie of the round.

Suddenly, she was three shots clear. And as sure as sun shines in Palm Springs, it looked as though everyone would soon be in a hopeless pursuit of a Mexican star going for her second straight major.

But she only went backward the rest of the way.

Ochoa tried to fade a punch shot around a tree from the rough on the 12th hole, but it was a fluffy lie and the ball shot up in the air, caromed off the tree and across the fairway, leading to bogey. On the 15th, she caught herself leaning into a 7-iron, leaving it out to the right and into the bunker for another bogey.

Then came the 18th, where the tee was moved forward to make the hole play 485 yards. Ochoa easily cleared the lake in two, just over the green, and her chip stopped 8 feet short. The putt looked good all the way.

“On 18 it was like, ‘OK, we deserve this one. Come on, let’s make it.’ And it was pretty much in the middle of the hole, and just at the end decided to go left and lipped out,” Ochoa said.

Hee-Won Han shot a 69 and joined Sorenstam at 3-under 141. The group at 142 included Karen Stupples, who fell from the first-round lead with a 75, and Se Ri Pak (70), inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame last year and now needing this major to become only the fifth woman to complete the career Grand Slam.

Only 15 players remained under par, and the cut fell at 5-over 149.

Young is looking for her first major, and didn’t expect to have a chance this week. She has been in a self-described funk for the last year and showed up in the desert with hardly any expectations. And she certainly had no reason to believe she would be tied for the lead after a three-putt bogey on No. 11, followed by a double bogey from the rough and sand on No. 12.

“I got off to a rough start today, and I just tried to keep my mood up,” she said. “And it served me well.”

She birdied three of four holes around the turn, and made her fifth and final birdie with a 25-foot putt on No. 7. She didn’t realize she was tied for the lead until walking off the ninth green and signing for a 70, and the only expectations she has are of Ochoa, whom she will play with in the final group.

“Loud. I expect it to be loud,” Young said. “She’s playing great. She’s playing phenomenal golf. So I expect her to have a lot of fans. I expect her to play well. And I expect her to out-drive me on every hole.”

Ochoa has far different expectations—make more putts.

“Overall, it was a great round,” she said. “I probably missed a lot of putts that I should have made, but I think I prefer making those on the weekend than today. And I’m feeling good. The important thing is that I feel strong and really confident with my game.”