KAPALUA, Maui » About the only top golfer not joining in the fun during yesterday's third round of the Kapalua LPGA Classic was world No. 1 Lorena Ochoa.

Poised to challenge for the lead after Friday's 69, Ochoa came back with a ho-hum 72 to finish in a tie for 21st at even-par 216 and trails the leaders by five shots. And while it will take something special for Ochoa to win her eighth tournament of the year, don't count her out just yet.

“;I have nothing to say other than it was frustrating,”; Ochoa said of the windy conditions plaguing the Bay Course at Kapalua this weekend.

“;I was solid out there. I'm hitting the ball really good. I gave myself a lot of birdie chances. I didn't really make any putts. I didn't get a good momentum going. And I three-putted three times. I had problems with the wind. It was really tough.”;

Ochoa didn't blame the grainy greens for her problems. Some golfers have trouble with Bermuda grass, but not Ochoa. Now, those pesky tradewinds? Well, that's another matter.

“;I think the grain is easy to read,”; Ochoa said. “;I think its more about the wind. Some of those greens are really windy and they get dry in the afternoon. If you are downwind, you just barely touch the ball and it rolls. I missed a couple of short putts because of the wind. It was going fine and then it just blows out (of the hole). You have to be patient, but it wasn't my day today.”;

Ochoa's low final round of the year is 66. Can she match it and put herself in contention to win?

“;I'm going to try to do it,”; Ochoa said. “;I feel good. I think tomorrow I have one more round before I go home to rest. So I'm going to try to do my best. I have nothing to lose. Hopefully, I can go really low and surprise them.”;

Inside the numbers

The scoring average dropped a little more than a stroke over the previous two rounds to 72.829. That's not surprising considering there were only 70 golfers in the field as opposed to 132 the first two days.

There was a tie for the hardest two holes on the course between the par-4 11th and the par-3 12th. The 11th yielded only nine birdies, 49 pars, 11 bogeys and one double bogey for a scoring average of 4.057. The 12th had a scoring average of 3.157. There were five birdies, 49 pars and 16 bogeys.

The easiest hole was the par-5 15th with a scoring average of 4.414. There were two eagles, 39 birdies, 27 pars and two bogeys.

Rarick misses cut

Former University of Hawaii golfer Cindy Rarick made it into the tournament as a first alternate, but didn't survive through to the weekend. She shot a 74 on Thursday and a 76 on Friday to finish at 6-over 150, missing the cut by two shots.