Delasin moves up but drops farther back

She moved up from seventh to joint fourth, but defending champion Dorothy Delasin, firing a second straight 69, dropped two more strokes as Se Ri Pak likewise matched her first round of 67 to seize a two-shot lead heading into the final round of the $1 million LPGA Giant Eagle Classic in Vienna, Ohio Saturday (Sunday in Manila).

Delasin, who started the round two shots off the Korean ace, bucked a bogey-bogey mishap on Nos. 2 and 3 with a birdie-binge at the backside of the Squaw Creek Country Club as she closed out with a 32 for that 69 that gave her a 6-under 138.

But the Fil-Am shotmaker, who beat Pat Hurst in a playoff here last year to become the youngest winner of an LPGA event in 25 years, will have to overcome a four-shot deficit and a fired-up Pak trying to atone for her sorry stint here last year.

A year ago, Pak shared the lead heading into the final round but shot a 40 on the back nine and missed a playoff by four strokes. That marked the only time she hasn’t won an LPGA tournament she led going into the final round. Eight times she has held onto the lead.

"I still remember," Pak said. "Last year somehow it didn’t work well at all and I missed short par putts. ... But this year is different."

Pak, who won the 1998 tournament when it was played at Avalon Lakes, is at 10-under 134 and has just one bogey through 36 holes.

Earlier in the week most of the field had singled out Pak as the player to beat. In a field weakened by the absence of eight of the top 11 on the money list, Pak was a clear choice with her three wins and almost $1 million in earnings this year.

Tammie Green shot a 67 to be at 136 while Sherri Steinhauer carded a 68 for 137.

Marianne Morris fired the day’s best score of 66 to tie Delasin at 138 along with Becky Iverson (70), Laurel Kean (70) and Marnie McGuire (71).