Stacy Lewis Na Yeon Choi share lead after third round of HSBC Womens Champions

Getty Images

Stacy Lewis shot a third-round 69 at the HSBC Women's Champions on Saturday, while Na Yeon Choi posted a 67.

2

20

22

0

• PRINT
• TEXT

By 

Justin Bergman

Associated Press

Series: LPGA Tour

SINGAPORE -- Stacy Lewis shared the lead with Na Yeon Choi at the HSBC Women's Champions after the South Korean birdied the 18th hole in a rain-delayed third round on Saturday.

Choi shot a 5-under 67 to tie the 28-year-old American at 14-under 202. Lewis, the overnight leader and reigning LPGA Tour Player of the Year, had a 69.

Paula Creamer, who injured her shoulder in a car accident after a tournament in Thailand last weekend, shot 69 to trail the leaders by two shots.

Four golfers were three strokes behind Creamer – American Danielle Kang (70), Spaniard Azahara Munoz (72), South Korean Sun Young Yoo (72) and 17-year-old LPGA tour rookie Ariya Jutanugarn of Thailand (72).

Lewis and Choi were in the last group on the course and had just teed off on the 18th when a thunderstorm rolled in and caused a 2 1/2-hour delay. Lewis was up a stroke when they left the course, but when they returned, Choi made a 10-foot birdie putt to pull even heading into Sunday.

The two golfers traded the lead throughout the day. Lewis bogeyed holes No. 1 and 3 to fall two strokes behind Choi. Lewis pulled even after reeling off three straight birdies – including a 25-foot putt on No. 8 that barely caught the edge of the hole.

Choi moved atop the leaderboard again with a birdie on the 14th, but she bogeyed the next hole after missing a long par putt to give the lead right back.

Lewis maintained the one-shot advantage going into the 18th. And then the rain came.

''It was very frustrating,'' Lewis said. ''It is what it is and luckily we got finished today. It's going to be tight tomorrow and we are going to have to make some putts.''

Creamer, who was in the next-to-last group, said she barely made it off before the start of thunder and lightning.

''Sometimes it has its perks being second to last,'' she said. ''Dinner will taste a lot better, especially not having to grind it out on the last hole.''

Creamer, the 2010 U.S. Open champion, had low expectations coming into the tournament after injuring her shoulder in a five-car accident on the way to the Bangkok airport on Sunday night. She said the pain was so bad Thursday morning that she wasn't sure if she'd play.

''I'm just so pleased to be out here, and let alone to be in contention on Sunday,'' Creamer said. ''That's just beyond my imagination of what I thought even teeing it up on Thursday.''

Top-ranked Yani Tseng had a 71 on Saturday. The five-time major winner hasn't won a tournament in nearly a year and could be in danger of losing her No. 1 spot to Choi, currently in second.

Choi can't overtake Tseng with a victory this week, but she is moving closer.

''I think that if I think about that tomorrow, then I don't think I can have good results,'' she said. ''So I will try to just think about one shot at a time.''

Also Saturday, Natalie Gulbis underwent blood tests after withdrawing with an unspecified illness her instructor initially suspected could be malaria.

Gulbis pulled out of the $1.4 million event before the second round on Friday with flu-like symptoms. Shortly afterward, her instructor, Butch Harmon, tweeted that both she and South Korean golfer Se Ri Pak, who withdrew from the tournament before it began with an illness, were in the hospital with malaria.

LPGA Tour spokesperson Kelly Thesier said Saturday, however, that Pak does not have malaria and Gulbis has yet to be diagnosed. She said Gulbis has undergone blood tests but has not been hospitalized.

Gulbis shot an opening-round 75 on Thursday before withdrawing.

Biggest Tackle in the League

Posted Aug 9, 2008

By Mike Duffy



Jim Leonhard was certainly surprised when Rex Ryan asked him to line up at defensive tackle.


Ravens defensive coordinator Rex Ryan is known for employing some interesting defensive schemes, but he may have outdone himself in Thursday’s preseason opener against the New England Patriots.

When Ryan ran out of defensive linemen at one point during the Ravens’ 16-15 victory, he turned to safety Jim Leonhard to fill the gap for a play.

At 5-foot-8, 186 pounds, Leonhard didn’t necessarily measure up favorably to the hulking New England offensive linemen, but he was eager to answer the call.

“That was fun,” said Leonhard. “I just had to put my trust in Rex that it was a good idea. I had to get back in pass coverage, so it wasn’t anything too different.”

Of course, Leonhard thinks that now. When he actually did line up in the trenches, the safety recalled his eyes getting much bigger when a Patriots guard followed him upfield.

“He was kind of concerned because he lined up and he dropped, and even though it was a drop-back pass, the guard chased him down the field,” laughed head coach John Harbaugh after Saturday’s morning practice. “He didn’t understand quite why.”

Chalk it up to another experience for the four-year veteran. Leonhard joined the Ravens this offseason after he was released by the Buffalo Bills in 2007.

Oddly enough, that was also Leonhard’s most-productive campaign, even though a calf injury kept him out of Weeks 5-7 and limited him for the rest of the season. He played in 13 games and started six, posting 51 tackles and two interceptions. Leonhard also has 18 special teams stops and 11 punt returns for 94 yards throughout his career.

While the former undrafted free agent said his departure from the Bills was bittersweet, the chance to play in Baltimore was something he couldn’t pass up.

“It was disappointing,” he explained. “I felt last year I started out the season really well and then got injured. You kind of get forgotten when you get injured.

“It’s just a great opportunity here. I miss a lot of the guys there, some great guys, but it’s the same thing here. Like I said, there’s no better defense to play in than this. It’s a lot of fun.”

With a tireless work ethic, toughness and high intelligence, Leonhard fits Harbaugh’s vision of what his team should be.

All of Leonhard’s characteristics have shown up in Baltimore’s secondary, special teams and briefly on the defensive line during training camp, where he’s seen some time with the first-string in Ed Reed’s absence (shoulder).

“Jim’s a veteran player,” Harbaugh noted. “He’s a good blitzer, he’s good in coverage deep, he’s good in man coverage, he returns punts and he does a lot of things that help a football team.”

Because Reed recently came off the injured list, Leonhard will continue to battle heralded draft picks Tom Zbikowski and Haruki Nakamura, each of whom has been impressive.

“I got my opportunity, and you know you’re going to get your chance in training camp,” Leonhard said. “You’ve just got to make the most of it. The two drafted guys are going to get their looks, which is totally understandable.”

But Leonhard just may have some more tricks up his sleeve. He’s been known to surprise people, as evidenced by the slam dunk contests he won his sophomore and junior years at Wisconsin.

“It was offseason conditioning stuff, and the coaches had a little fun with it,” Leonhard admitted.



“I’d just dunk it as hard as I could because nobody expected me to be able to do it. It’s a little shocking when you get a 5-8 guy up there dunking pretty hard.”

Despite his diminutive size, Leonhard is decidedly motivated to prove any and all critics wrong.

“I think everyone has to have that chip on their shoulder, no matter what it is,” he said. “I just go out there and try to make plays.”

For Leonhard, that apparently applies to multiple positions.