PALM DESERT, Calif. -Grace Park held onto the lead in the Samsung World Championship with a roller-coaster round, while Annika Sorenstam and Cristie Kerr moved within three shots.

Park had a 1-under 71 on Saturday, salvaging a bogey 5 on the final hole after she drove into desert brush, had trouble finding her ball, and took a penalty stroke for an unplayable lie.

She was at 16-under 200 through three rounds in the elite 20-player tournament.

Sorenstam, whose 53 career LPGA Tour victories include three titles in the event, matched Kerr with a 69 on Bighorn Golf Club course.

Amateur Michelle Wie, the teenage sensation from Hawaii, turned in a 67 for the best round of the day – and seven strokes better than her first day.

Wie, who turned 15 on Monday, put an exclamation point on her round by sinking a 40-foot putt for a birdie 3 on No. 18.

She grinned, pumped her arm slightly and waved to the appreciative gallery, with many of the fans trailing her and Laura Davies during the round.

The 5-under round moved Wie, in the event on a sponsor’s exemption, from 19th to 15th going into the final 18 holes.

Park, ahead since an opening 62, lost the lead briefly on the front nine. She bogeyed No. 3 while Kerr, playing in a group ahead of her, got her fifth consecutive birdie when she sank a 12-foot putt on No. 5.

Els, Westwood advance to finals of World Match Play Championship

VIRGINIA WATER, England – Defending champion Ernie Els beat Padraig Harrington 5 and 4 Saturday to move into the final of the World Match Play Championship and stay on course for a record sixth title.

Els, who shares the record of five World Match Play titles with Gary Player and Seve Ballestros, will face Lee Westwood, who withstood a late comeback by Miguel Angel Jimenez to win the other semifinal 1-up.

Westwood was 5-up with eight holes to play before Jimenez won three straight and the 16th to make it close.

The winner Sunday receives $1.8 million, billed as the biggest prize in world golf.

Els, who turns 35 Sunday, will be appearing in the final for a record seventh time. His only loss in the final came against Vijay Singh in 1997. However, Westwood has beaten Els in the only two matches the two have played, in the second round in 1998 and the semifinals in 2000.

“It’s one thing making the final, another thing trying to win it,” Els said. “I’m sure Lee will have a lot of confidence. It’s a new game, a new match.”

Lehman, Geiberger tied for lead

GREENSBORO, N.C. – Tom Lehman finds himself in the final pairing in the final round for the second straight week.

“I’m sick and tired of finishing second,” said Lehman, winless in four years.

The 1996 British Open champion bounced back from an early bogey for a 3-under 69 Saturday to join Brent Geiberger (71) at the top of the leaderboard in the Chrysler Classic of Greensboro at 12 under. Four players – including 2001 PGA champ David Toms – were one shot back, with another 10 players within four strokes of the lead.

Last week in Las Vegas, Lehman led going into the final day before eventually tying for second, one shot back. The 45-year-old Minnesotan has five career victories but none since the 2000 Phoenix Open.

Most of his problems have been with his putting. One of the best ball strikers on tour, Lehman hasn’t finished out of the top 10 in greens in regulation since 1999. This year, he’s fifth in that category and 106th in putting.

McNulty four shots ahead at SBC Championship

SAN ANTONIO – Mark McNulty had and eagle and five birdies in a seven-hole stretch Saturday to take a big second-round lead in the SBC Championship.

McNulty, who won the Outback Steakhouse Pro-Am in February in his Champions Tour debut, finished with an 8-under 63 for a 12-under 130 total and a four-stroke advantage going into Sunday’s final round.

Gary McCord, 2002 winner Dana Quigley and Morris Hatalsky were tied for second after 66s on the Oak Hills Country Club course.

Another shot back were Bruce Fleisher (66) and Allen Doyle (67), while first-round leaders Tom Kite (71) and Dave Stockton (71) were among a pack of five players at 137.

“With one round to go, I like my position – I think anybody would,” said McNulty, a Zimbabwean who now lives in England. “There are a lot of players behind me who can do what I did today.” One under for the day through eight holes, McNulty hit his drive within a foot on the par-3 ninth for birdie and followed with an 18-foot putt for eagle on the par-5 10th.

McNulty added birdies on short putts on the par-4 11th, par-3 13th and the 323-yard 14th, when he dropped his second shot 8 feet from the hole. On the par-5 15th, he made another short putt for birdie to reach 12 under.

“When your mind is in tune, you make the shot that’s called for at that moment,” he said. “I hit a lot of very good quality iron shots and followed them up with good putts.”

Quigley had three birdies in his first five holes to get to 6 under, and was still there through No. 12 before his putter heated up. He sank a 45-foot putt for birdie on No. 13, and made a 44-footer for eagle on the 15th.

“I made a putt I’d like to chop up into 10-footers for tomorrow’s round,” he said of the 13th. “I was just trying to roll it up there and the hole jumped in the way.”

Quigley said winning at Oak Hills two years ago gives him confidence going into the final round.

“I don’t think four shots is too much to catch up on this course,” he said. “I have a tremendous feeling that I can play well here, and there’s no replacement for that.”

McCord, starting the day at 3 under, pitched out of a bunker within 7 feet for a birdie on No. 10 to get to 6 under. He later made a 15-foot putt for birdie on No. 13 and on the next hole, he left his second shot 2 feet from the hole.

“You put yourself in position and see how bad you choke,” McCord said of going into Sunday’s round. “That’s what makes it fun.”

Hatalsky stood at 5 under through 14, but he finished with three birdies on the final four holes to tie Quigley and McCord.

Kite was at 8 under with five holes to play, but the end of his round included a double-bogey and a bogey.

On the 14th, he hit his second shot over the green into a bunker and then left a wedge short. After getting onto the green with his fourth shot, he two-putted from 18 feet.

Gil Morgan, who shot a 77 on Friday, matched the event’s single-round record with a 62 on Saturday, but he was still nine strokes off the lead.

AP-ES-10-16-04 1858EDT