South Korea's Jee Young Lee soared to the top of the field as world number one Lorena Ochoa slipped two off the pace after the third round of the McDonald's LPGA Championship in Maryland.
Lee's seven-under-par 65 put her 12 under overall, and a shot ahead of Sweden's Maria Hjorth - with halfway leader Ochoa and 10-time major winner Annika Sorenstam, in a share of third place on 10 under.
Ochoa, aiming for a third major in a row and the second leg of a season's Grand Slam, led by one going into a third round that had a delayed start because of morning fog in Maryland.
She made a stuttering start with a bogey at the first and then a double-bogey after bunker trouble at the short seventh - but hit back with three second-half birdies.
"It was a disappointing start, and it wasn't as good as the first two days," admitted the Mexican, who is bidding for a seventh win of a remarkable season.
"But I'm still in a good position - and I'm looking forward to Sunday."
Sorenstam, in her retirement year, had a flawless four-birdie round.
Lee's only win on the LPGA Tour was in the 2005 CJ Nine Bridges Classic in her native Korea, and the long-hitting 22-year-old made her move with a round of six birdies and an eagle at the long 15th.
It was a disappointing Saturday for the two British players to make the cut. England's Karen Stupples had two double-bogeys in a back nine of 41 and shot 76 for a two-over-par total.
Scot Mhairi McKay, who made the cut on the final mark, had a double and a triple-bogey in a 77 and was on five over par and almost propping up the field.
Collated third round scores & totals
(USA unless stated, par 72):
204 Jee Young Lee (Kor) 70 69 65
205 Maria Hjorth (Swe) 68 72 65
206 Annika Sorenstam (Swe) 70 68 68, Lorena Ochoa (Mex) 69 65 72
208 Lindsey Wright (Aus) 67 68 73, Ya-Ni Tseng (Kor) 73 70 65, Laura Diaz 71 68 69, Brittany Lang 70 67 71
209 Marisa Baena 68 70 71, Ji-Young Oh (Kor) 69 68 72, Irene Cho 72 68 69
210 Carolina Llano 75 67 68, Kelli Kuehne 69 70 71, Gloria Park (Kor) 70 69 71, Jimin Kang (Kor) 72 68 70, Momoko Ueda (Jpn) 72 67 71, Jimin Jeong 73 68 69, Angela Stanford 72 71 67
211 Giulia Sergas (Ita) 71 71 69, Shi Hyun Ahn (Kor) 73 69 69, Young Kim (Kor) 69 73 69, Jane Park 72 69 70, Karrie Webb (Aus) 71 71 69, Su A Kim 70 70 71, Na Yeon Choi (Kor) 75 67 69, Nicole Castrale 68 72 71
212 Morgan Pressel 73 69 70, Cristie Kerr 71 70 71, Candie Kung (Tai) 70 72 70, Lorie Kane (Kor) 66 70 76, Paula Creamer 71 70 71, Rachel Hetherington (Aus) 68 69 75, Kyeong Eun Bae (Kor) 71 71 70, Jeong Jang (Kor) 72 72 68
213 Mi-Hyun Kim (Kor) 72 70 71, Angela Park 74 70 69, Brittany Lincicome 75 68 70, Michele Redman 71 69 73, Hee-Won Han (Kor) 69 71 73, Liselotte Neumann (Swe) 70 72 71, Suzann Pettersen (Nor) 71 68 74, Karine Icher (Fra) 70 74 69
214 Wendy Doolan (Aus) 69 75 70, Jennifer Rosales (Phi) 70 74 70, Jill McGill 72 70 72, Il Mi Chung (Kor) 71 71 72, Jin Joo Hong (Kor) 68 70 76, Eun Hee Ji (Kor) 72 70 72, Nancy Scranton 71 69 74, Michelle Ellis 71 67 76, Sophie Giquel (Fra) 70 72 72, Hwa seon Lee (Kor) 73 71 70, Hye Jung Choi (Kor) 69 74 71
215 Linda Wessberg (Swe) 72 72 71, Becky Lucidi 73 71 71, Soo-Yun Kang (Kor) 69 74 72, Se Ri Pak (Kor) 70 72 73, Kristy McPherson 73 70 72, Sandra Gal (Ger) 70 70 75
216 Louise Friberg (Swe) 70 73 73, Moira Dunn 72 72 72, Julieta Granada (Par) 70 69 77
217 Stacy Prammanasudh 75 69 73, Sun Young Yoo (Kor) 71 73 73, In-Bee Park (Kor) 69 74 74, Leta Lindley 72 72 73, Amy Hung (Tha) 71 71 75, Alena Sharp 74 70 73, Silvia Cavalleri (Ita) 72 72 73, Sherri Steinhauer 73 71 73, Danielle Downey 71 73 73, Shanshan Feng (Chn) 72 72 73
218 Karen Stupples (Eng) 71 71 76, Tracy Hanson 70 73 75
219 Candy Hannemann 75 68 76, Young-A Yang (Kor) 74 68 77, Meaghan Francella 70 72 77
220 Charlotte Mayorkas 73 71 76
221 Mhairi McKay (Sco) 75 69 77
223 Jamie Hullett 70 74 79, Allison Fouch 72 72 79
Walk in the park for VfB
OCHOA WINS FOURTH STRAIGHT TITLE
