Lewis pulls clear by six shots

GALLOWAY, New Jersey: Stacy Lewis carded a second-straight six-under par 65 on Saturday to seize a six-shot lead going into the final round of the LPGA ShopRite Classic.
Lewis, who shared the overnight lead with Japan’s Mika Miyazato, had eight birdies to off-set a double-bogey six at the sixth hole. Her 36-hole total of 12-under par 130 matched the tournament record set by Amy Benz in 1996 and matched by Denise Killeen in 2004.
Lewis had a comfortable cushion in the 54-hole event over Sweden’s Anna Nordqvist, who posted a four-under 67 for 136. Nordqvist’s six birdies included three in a row from the 11th.
Paula Creamer and So Yeon Ryu, the last two winners of the US women’s Open, were in a group on 137.
Ryu carded a 67 on the Bay Course at the Seaview resort, while Creamer posted a 70. They were joined at five-under by Australian Katherine Hull, who posted a 66 and Spain’s Azahara Munoz, who carded a 68.
World number one Yani Tseng was in a quartet of players on 138. The Taiwanese star, winner of the three tournaments already this season, carded a 67 and was tied with South Korea’s Hee-Won Han (67), Colombia’s Mariajo Uribe (71) and Miyazato, who slipped back with a two-over 73.
Tseng teed off on 10 and made a move with four straight birdies around the turn, starting at 18 and continuing at the first, second and third holes.
Her charge stalled with bogeys at four and seven, but she capped her round with a birdie on the par-five ninth.
Lewis, who led going into the final round en route to a victory in April in Mobile, Alabama, said this time around she purposely avoided checking the leaderboards. The golfer said she felt she played more cautiously from in front in Alabama.
“I took so much from Mobile,” Lewis said. “I had a couple-shot lead, but then I think at the turn, I had a five-shot lead and I made the mistake of playing safe, and not really staying into my game and what I was doing. I was worrying about what other people were doing, watching the leaderboard.
“So today, out there, I made the turn and had a two-shot lead and kind of told myself let’s see how big we can get this.”
Lewis, who birdied three of the first five holes, came unstuck at the sixth, where she drove into the brush and finished with a three-putt double-bogey.
She responded with five more birdies, including one at the par-five finishing hole.
“I probably should have hit a three-wood off the tee,” Lewis said of the sixth.
“I was worried about my driver going through the fairway, so I kind of laid off the driver and hit it into the brush, chipped out and then had an ugly three-putt. But from then on, my caddie told me, ‘when you hit a bad shot, we’ve got to slow down, you’ve got to get back to what you’re doing.’ And I did that the rest of the way.”