StarBulletin.com

Shin widens lead while Wie fades


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POSTED: Sunday, June 28, 2009

ROCHESTER, N.Y. » To dispel her jitters, Jiyai Shin reached for a sandwich.

The South Korean star, seeking her fifth win in 11 months, shot a 5-under 67 yesterday to extend her lead to four strokes at the Wegmans LPGA.

“;On the front nine, I lost my confidence,”; the 21-year-old Shin said of a slow start. “;I tried eating. Eat some bread on No. 10 and then I made birdie.”;

Hawaii's Michelle Wie faded from contention after shooting 3-over 75 yesterday to finish the third round at 4-under 212, 12 shots back. She was tied for third Friday when second-round play was suspended by darkness.

With five of her six birdies on the back nine, Shin moved to 16-under 200 after three rounds. Morgan Pressel, a two-time winner on tour whose season-best finish was a tie for seventh in April, shot a 70 and was in second place at 12 under—one better than rookie Stacy Lewis, who also shot 70.

Cheyenne Woods, the niece of Tiger Woods, missed the cut by four strokes in her professional golf debut. Woods and 70 other players completed their second rounds yesterday morning after play was interrupted by thunderstorms Friday. Defending champion Eun-Hee Ji could only manage a 71 and crashed at 7 over.

In 2008, Shin became the first non-LPGA member to win three events. A multiple winner on the Korean tour, she reeled in the Women's British Open last August, then followed with late-season wins in the Mizuno Classic and ADT Championship. In March, she captured the HSBC Women's Champions in Singapore for her first victory as a tour member.

Shin rolled in a 20-foot birdie putt on No. 1, but she failed to reach the par-4 sixth in two and missed a 6-foot par putt for her only bogey at Locust Hill, a traditional, tree-lined course with compact, undulating greens.

After failing to hit a succession of greens in regulation, Shin made amends by chipping in from 15 yards on the par-4 10th and left her approach shot inches away for another birdie on the next hole. She curled in a birdie from 7 feet on No. 14, another from 4 feet on No. 16 and her sixth from 5 feet on the par-5 17th.

Pressel sank a 15-foot birdie putt on No. 8 to get a brief share of the lead.

“;Being in second spot is never a bad spot unless it's the end of the tournament, so I still have a chance,”; Pressel said.