Suzann Pettersen shot a 3-under 69 to post at 12-under and take a one-shot lead into the final round of $1.1 million Lorena Ochoa Invitational Presented by Banamex and Corona Light at Guadalajara Country Club in Mexico.
A group of four players will give chase from 11-under - In-Kyung Kim (68), Ai Miyazato (68), Karine Icher (68) and Stacy Lewis (69). Second-round leader Paula Creamer (72) is two shots back.
Pettersen got off to a quick start, birdying her first two holes to take the lead. She added birdies on six and nine to post an outward 4-under 32. But after a birdie on 10 earned her a three-shot lead, she dropped shots on 15 and 16 to come back to the field. "It's just a roller coaster out there," Pettersen said. "I made some really good birdies, and made a few sloppy on swings on the few bogeys that I made. But I made a good putt on the last and that kind of helped me get my momentum going for tomorrow. I've been feeling really good on the greens and making some nice putts."
Pettersen is one clear on a crowded leaderboard - there are four players one back and another two back.
"If there's that many people that close, some of them will go low," she said. "You can't really look back. Just try and look ahead and try and bring it home." Pettersen's four for nine with the lead or a share of the lead entering the final round.
Pettersen has five second-place finishes this year and is hoping to not compile her sixth Sunday. "I've been in this situation a lot," she said. "Hopefully my experience from previous tournaments this year can help me play well tomorrow."
Pettersen said a win would be sweetened by the fact that this tournament is hosted by one of the game's greatest ambassadors and such a well-liked player. "She has done so much for golf and for kids here in México," she said. "To be here and playing on her course, it would be a very, very nice win if I can pull it off tomorrow."
Ai Miyazato birdied the 18th hole to become the second of four players to post at 11-under. Miyazato is close friends with Ochoa - Ochoa hand-picked her and Natalie Gulbis to play with her in the first two rounds of her farewell tournament at the Tres Marias Championship - a fact that might make a win Sunday even sweeter for her.
"That would be great," she said. "But you never know what's going to happen, because with the top ten players, it's getting really close right now. So I need to keep playing good and just need to be patient. One more day."
Tournament hostess Lorena Ochoa improved again Saturday, shooting a 3-under 69 to get to 2-under overall. Her round featured six birdies, four of them on the back nine.
