Samsung Saturday: Phew!

As Hound Dog, the LPGA, and the AP report, scoring conditions were closer to optimal for the 3rd round of the Samsung World Championship--and a lot of players took advantage. Although Paula Creamer (-6) birdied her last 3 holes for a bogey-free 68 that vaulted her 1 shot ahead of Angela Stanford--who, playing with a painful shoulder injury, also had 3 birdies in a row (at the turn) and a bogey-free round, but doubled 2 holes on the back to offset her pairs of birdies to open and close that 9 on the way to her 69--there are 8 more players within 5 shots of her lead.

Combined with the northern California coastal weather conditions they've been dealing with, narrow fairways, thick rough, and high-risk/high-reward design of the links-style Half Moon Bay course, literally anything can happen later today. Given how well Stanford's been playing in pain, what if Ya Ni Tseng (tricep/elbow problems) and Jeong Jang (wrist problems), go nuts early? Both are "due" to break 70 for the 2nd time.

Here are the Sunday pairings:

Start Time: 9:30 AM
Helen Alfredsson (75-73-76)
Angela Park (76-76-75)

Start Time: 9:40 AM
Inbee Park (77-71-74)
Karrie Webb (74-76-73)

Start Time: 9:50 AM
Hee-Won Han (75-71-72)
Annika Sorenstam (69-77-75)

Start Time: 10:00 AM
Seon Hwa Lee (75-69-72)
Yani Tseng (69-74-74)

Start Time: 10:10 AM
Jeong Jang (72-76-68)
Eun-Hee Ji (73-73-70)

Start Time: 10:20 AM
Cristie Kerr (73-73-68)
Na Yeon Choi (69-71-75)

Start Time: 10:30 AM
Suzann Pettersen (74-70-69)
Ji-Yai Shin (67-76-70)

Start Time: 10:40 AM
Lorena Ochoa (69-73-70)
Juli Inkster (73-72-68)

Start Time: 10:50 AM
Katherine Hull (70-73-69)
Song-Hee Kim (69-70-73)

Start Time: 11:00 AM
Paula Creamer (68-74-68)
Angela Stanford (69-73-69)

If the weather remains good, there's a chance for Creamer and/or Stanford to both break 70, but the odds favor someone from the 1st 2 chase groups to charge past them with a sub-70 round. With the firepower arrayed behind them, though, everyone in those last 3 pairings had better not look over their shoulders. Absolutely anyone in the top 15 could win this thing.

[Update 1 (9:25 am): Hats off to Golf Channel for mentioning Song-Hee Kim in their final stats page. Looks like a Seoul Sister is going to have to win this thing to get some face time!]