Saturday surge at Kingsmill by Wright and Kerr

WILLIAMSBURG -- A tournament that was Lorena Ochoa's to lose is suddenly anyone's to win.

Lindsey Wright and Cristie Kerr played splendidly and well, respectively, on a breezy day on the lower James River to vault into a tie for first place heading into today's final round of the $2.2 million Michelob Ultra Open at Kingsmill.

Wright shot 64 and Kerr 66 yesterday. Kerr, striving to become the first two-time champion in the event's seven-year history, pulled alongside Wright at 15 under by finishing with back-to-back birdies.

The two will create an unlikely final-round pairing. Wright, a 29-year-old Australian, is winless, with only one top-three finish, in five-plus seasons on tour. Kerr, a 31-year-old Floridian, owns 11 victories -- one of which occurred here in 2005 -- and 38 top-threes in 12-plus seasons.

"I'm excited," said Wright, whose first 54 holes have produced but one bogey. "I feel like I'm ready. It's great to be in this position, and I've been working really hard on my game. I feel like I've earned the right to be here. It's not like I'm thinking, 'Oh, my gosh -- I'm leading the golf tournament.'"

Even though she has seldom been in contention, Wright said she is sufficiently savvy to understand that "You can't get ahead of yourself. Start planning your [victory] speech on the first tee, and you know you're going to be in trouble. You've just got to pace yourself and stay in the moment."

Between them, Wright and Kerr rang up 14 birdies yesterday. Said Wright: "It's Saturday and the course is -- I wouldn't say easy, exactly, but it's very scoreable. Plus, you've got Lorena at the top of the leader board. So that kind of sets the wheels in motion the minute you get to the first tee. You know you're going to have to make birdies."

A pair of 20-year of South Koreans, apparently inspired by the title of a popular Disney Channel cartoon -- "Kim Possible" -- was snapping at the leaders' heels at day's end. In-Kyung Kim shot 67 yesterday and sits alone in third place at 14 under. Song-Hee Kim shot 68 and finished at 13 under. Neither has strayed into the 70s this week.

The ascent of Wright and Kerr was overshadowed, if not completely eclipsed, by the stunning back-nine collapse of Ochoa, the tour's leading moneywinner and the world's No. 1-ranked female player.

Ochoa, the solo leader after each of the first two rounds, was tangled in a three-way tie for the lead when she arrived at the par-3 13th. She bogeyed 13, then staggered through a pratfall of a double bogey at the par-4 14th. Her 3-over-par 74 -- it was her worst round of the season -- dropped her into a group of three players at 10 under.

"I guess that's the way it is," Ochoa said. "Sometimes you get good breaks. Sometimes you get bad breaks. You have to accept them all." Today, she said, "is a new day. I'll try to play good [today]."

Kerr and Ochoa played in the same threesome. Kerr said the absence of Ochoa's regular caddie, Dave Brooker, may finally have become a factor. Brooker suffered a broken foot while playing soccer two weeks ago at the Corona Classic. Adam Woodward has since replaced him on Ochoa's bag.

Woodward is a fine caddie, Kerr said. "But I feel like today she missed Dave a little bit. Those times when she's maybe playing a little rough, Dave can pick her up a little bit. He knows how to talk to her."

The leaders' 54-hole score broke the tournament record (14-under) established last year by Annika Sorenstam.