Annika Sorenstam holds three shot advantage

Annika Sorenstam knows there was speculation that her best days as a golfer were behind her, and that an injury-plagued 2007 was the beginning of the end.

That all just makes working her way back to the top more satisfying.

“I never wondered, but I know other people would wonder, `Is she ever going to get back?”’ Sorenstam said Saturday after her 2-under 69 showed that she’s getting there quickly. “I know what I’m capable of.”

Rarely spectacular but remarkable for her consistency, Sorenstam shot her third consecutive nearly mistake-free round, and gave No. 1 Lorena Ochoa and Jeong Jang up-close evidence that she’s getting ever closer to finding the maddeningly steady game that made her the top female player in the world for so long, and it’s coming sooner rather than later.

“It’s been over a year and I’m finally starting to feel good again,” said Sorenstam, who opened with rounds of 64 and 68 and was 14 under overall.

Hitting fairways and greens consistently and scrambling when necessary with radar-like wedge play, Sorenstam stretched her bogey-free string to 53 holes before hooking a drive into the water on No. 18. Even then, she drove again, hit a 6-iron from 162 yards to 8 feet and made the putt, the bogey leaving her with a three-shot lead over Jang.

“I saved everything today,” Sorenstam said. “Even the last hole.”

And that ability to keep bad shots from costing her is key to her resurgence.

“I mean, there was a stretch there that I was really relying on my short game and it was good saves,” she said, speaking of a string of three par saves in a row beginning with the eighth hole. “It was solid saves all around. That’s what kind of kept my round going.”

Ochoa lost her putting stroke and fell back quickly. Her string of four bogeys in five holes ended just before Sorenstam made back-to-back long putts, both for birdie, to open an eight-shot lead over the woman who has taken her place at the top of the sport.

Ochoa started well, holing a long birdie putt on the first hole, and was 2 under through seven holes, but 5 over after that, finishing with a 74 to drop into a tie for 10th.

“I just didn’t have a good rhythm today, didn’t have good speed,” she said. “I’m not even going to think about it or try to work on it. I’m just going to go home and relax and get ready for tomorrow.”

It was almost as if Sorenstam was answering the whispers of those who felt compelled to note that her two victories this year came in events that Ochoa skipped.

On Sunday, the best female golfers in the world will again be chasing Sorenstam, who said she knows the road ahead is a long one ahead, but regaining the top ranking is a goal.

“I feel great how the season is shaping up, so we’ll see what happens,” she said.

Jang, who played in the final group with Sorenstam and Ochoa, shook off an aching wrist and a bogey on the first hole for a 69. The final threesome Sunday also will include Christina Kim, who was four back after a 66.

After watching Sorenstam for 18 holes, Jang thinks the Swede is past her struggles.

“I don’t think she’s going to be back,” Jang said, dismissing the idea that Sorenstam, a 71-time winner, might come back to the pack on Sunday. “I think she’s almost there.”

Kim, meanwhile, has won twice in her career, and said the key for her on Sunday will be in paying more attention to her own game and less to the other players in her group.

“I’m just chasing myself right now,” she said. “I’m just going out there to just enjoy myself and see where the numbers end. If I end up beating Annika, that would be awesome.

“If I end up not, but still have a great tournament, awesome.”

Maria Hjorth is fourth, six shots back, after a 66, and five players are tied for fifth, another shot off the pace. That group includes Candie Kung, who has two 66s sandwiched around a 74, and Jee Young Lee, who lost to Suzann Pettersen in a playoff here last year.