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April 6, 2013 | 8:36 p.m.

How it happened: Inbee Park shoots 67 to lead by three at Kraft

Inbee Park during the second round of the 2013 Kraft Nabisco Championship.
Golfweek Staff

Inbee Park has taken a three-shot lead at the Kraft Nabisco Championship, moving to 12 under after shooting a 5-under 67 on Saturday.

Lizette Salas is the closest competitor at 9 under, after shooting a 69 at Mission Hills on Moving Day.

Six other players - Angela Stanford, Karrie Webb, Suzann Pettersen, Karine Icher, Jessica Korda and Pornanong Phatlum - are at 6 under.

See how it all unfolded at Mission Hills today:

• • •

Update No. 34: 8:28 p.m. EDT

Each player, Inbee Park and Lizette Salas, played the par-5 18th as a three shot hole.

Park has a 12 foot birdie putt, but missed it. She taps in for par and its good for a 67.

Salas misses her birdie chance as well. Salas shot a 69.

This will give a three-shot lead for Park over Salas heading into the final round.

• • •

Update No. 33: 8:12 p.m. EDT

Inbee Park puts it close on the par-3 17th, and makes it for birdie to take a three-shot lead into the last hole. If she birdies 18, she can tie the 54-hole scoring record at the Kraft Nabisco Championship of 13-under.

Lizette Salas had a nice up and down from ...

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April 5, 2013 | 10:57 p.m.

Kraft Nabisco Championship: Tee times, third round

Inbee Park will tee off in the final group Saturday in the 2013 Kraft Nabisco Championship.
Golfweek Staff

— All times Pacific:

7:40 a.m.: Lindsey Wright

7:45 a.m.: Hee-Won Han, Vicky Hurst

7:54 a.m.: Jenny Shin, Maria Hjorth

8:03 a.m.: Mo Martin, Shanshan Feng

8:12 a.m.: Ha-Neul Kim, Mariajo Uribe

8:21 a.m.: Angel Yin*, I.K. Kim

8:30 a.m.: Carlota Ciganda, Mika Miyazato

8:39 a.m.: Lexi Thompson,Meena Lee

8:48 a.m.: Morgan Pressel, Yani Tseng

8:57 a.m.: Paige Mackenzie, Pernilla Lindberg

9:06 a.m.: Chella Choi, Christel Boeljon

9:15 a.m.: Ashlan Ramsey*, Candie Kung

9:32 a.m.: Karin Sjodin, Mina Harigae

9:41 a.m.: Lydia Ko, Stephanie Meadow

9:50 a.m.: Belen Mozo, Natalie Gulbis

9:59 a.m.: Jee Young Lee, Sophie Gustafson

10:08 a.m.: Alison Walshe, Julieta Granada

10:17 a.m.: Catriona Matthew, Cindy Lacrosse

10:26 a.m.: Karen Stupples, Momoko Ueda

10:35 a.m.: Angela Stanford, Beatriz Recari

10:44 a.m.: Camilla Hedberg*, Sarah Jane Smith

10:53 a.m.: Ayako Uehara, Eun-Hee Ji

11:10 a.m.: Gerina Piller, Stacy Lewis

11:19 a.m.: Na Yeon Choi, So Yeon ...

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April 5, 2013 | 10:16 p.m.

Inbee Park finds herself in rare top form at Kraft

Inbee Park during the second round of the 2013 Kraft Nabisco Championship.
Beth Ann Baldry

— Inbee Park’s touch on the greens is as pure as her all-white ensembles. When she’s dialed in, everyone in the field knows she’s tough to beat. Park poured in six birdies Friday at the Dinah Shore Tournament Course to shoot 67 and vault to the lead at the Kraft Nabisco Championship. She might be largely overlooked by fans and media alike, but players know better.

Park blossomed in 2012, winning the LPGA money title and Vare Trophy for lowest scoring average. This season, she won her season debut in Thailand.

“I had a lot of experience winning, losing, all different kinds of experiences that helped me a lot coming into this year,” said Park, who led the tour in both putting categories: putting average and putts per green in regulation.

Park, who has finished in the top 10 in nine of her last 12 major-championship appearances, was the 2008 U.S. Women’s Open champion. It was her caddie who wound up in a pond after that victory. Park said that though she hasn’t thought ahead too much this week, for the last eight years her father has said that if she’s ...

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April 5, 2013 | 10:08 p.m.

Lizette Salas works her way into contention at Kraft

Lizette Salas during the second round of the Kraft Nabisco Championship.
Julie Williams

— Martha Salas’ hand flew to her mouth when she got within viewing distance of the electronic leaderboard beside the No. 18 green. Daughter Lizette, with three birdies on the Dinah Shore Tournament Course’s back nine, had climbed to within one shot of Inbee Park’s 7-under lead. This was just the first time Martha had noticed.

It would have been easy for Lizette to lose that second-place position at No. 18. She hit her second shot at the par 5 into deep rough and would need to carry over water to get to the green in three. She stood for several minutes and consulted caddie Greg Puga. Eventually, she hit a short chip back into the fairway, hit her fourth shot to 4 feet and made the putt for a safe par.

She wouldn’t have made the same decision a year ago.

“I’m comfortable in my short game and I’m not a long hitter, so I have to make it up some way,” Salas said. “I’ve been working hard and dialing in with my wedge because that’s your go-to club.”

Salas was a four-time All-American at USC – where she became the ...

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April 5, 2013 | 9:40 p.m.

Kraft notebook: Jiyai Shin ailing, Paula Creamer enduring

Jiyai Shin
Beth Ann Baldry

— More than anything, Jiyai Shin was happy to finish the round. The two-time British Open champion has been battling a lower back injury in the last week and pulled out of the Tuesday pro-am at the Kraft Nabisco Championship. She tried to play nine holes on Wednesday but lasted only five.

Turns out the ailment was a bit of an aid to Shin, who is 3 under for the tournament and two strokes behind leader Na Yeon Choi.

“I’m just playing very safe, not aggressive,” said Shin. “I make less bogeys, less mistakes.”

Shin went to a hospital in Orange County last week to see a Korean doctor, getting acupuncture treatments and ultrasound. Because her back hurts if she hits it firm, Shin has focused a lot on tempo this week. She hit 25 of 28 fairways the first two rounds.

• • •

Creamer looking up: Paula Creamer rebounded nicely with a 4-under 68, vaulting her into the top 10 from T-53. It’s fairly obvious from Creamer’s hoarse voice that she’s feeling under the weather. Creamer lost her grandmother, Florence Stanton, on Easter Sunday. Last year at this time, she lost her father’s dad ...

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April 5, 2013 | 9:25 p.m.

How it Happened: Inbee Park takes lead at Kraft Nabisco

Inbee Park during the second round of the 2013 Kraft Nabisco Championship in Rancho Mirage, Calif.
Golfweek Staff

With a bunched-up leaderboard, the Kraft Nabisco Championship provided an entertaining second round in Southern California.

The lead opened the day in the hands of Na Yeon Choi, Jodi Ewart Shadoff and Suzann Pettersen, tied at 4 under. But Inbee Park took control and moved to 7 under, one ahead of Lizette Salas.

More coverage:

Here's how it all unfolded:

• • •

Update 42: 9:25 p.m. EDT

Caroline Hedwall pars No. 9 to finish her day at 5 under, two back of leader Inbee Park and T-3 with Giulia Sergas, who will be her playing partner for Saturday's third round.

• • •

Update 41: 8:58 p.m. EDT

A couple more hit the clubhouse: Giulia Sergas finishes at 5 under, falling two strokes back of leader Inbee Park and one back of second-place Lizette Salas. Sergas is T-3 with Caroline Hedwall, who still is on the course through 17 holes.

Michelle Wie bogeys No. 18 to drop to 2 under, running a long birdie attempt past the hole and ...

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April 5, 2013 | 6:24 p.m.

Jodi Ewart Shadoff helps anchor top of Kraft Nabisco leaderboard

Jodi Ewart Shadoff during the second round of the 2013 Kraft Nabisco Open.
Julie Williams

— Jodi Ewart Shadoff was the lasting image from Thursday’s first round of the Kraft Nabisco Championship – coast to coast. The 25-year-old Englishwoman putted out for 4-under 68 to keep a share of the lead, was among the very last players to leave the course, and showed up on the 10 p.m. sports show back home in Sarasota, Fla. New husband Adam Shadoff, SNN6-TV’s sports anchor, made sure to work in those highlights.

Ewart Shadoff returned an even-par 72 Friday morning to maintain a position at or near the top of the leaderboard for much of the afternoon.

This week marks the one-year anniversary of Ewart Shadoff’s first major championship start. Her biggest professional victory dates to 2011 Ladies European Tour Q-School. Even if Ewart does strike it big this weekend, it’s likely to be overshadowed by one of the most contentious points in golf – Ewart Shadoff anchors her putter.

Ewart Shadoff was peppered with questions post-round Friday about that stroke, one she’s been using since November 2011. She first tried anchoring after a SunCoast Tour event during which she had 37 putts. It was right after Keegan Bradley won the PGA ...

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April 4, 2013 | 9:54 p.m.

Kraft Nabisco: First- and second-round tee times

Sun Young Yoo and her caddie Adam Woodward celebrate after the first playoff hole during the final round of the Kraft Nabisco Championship. I.K. Kim, left, missed a 1-footer in regulation to win the title.
Golfweek Staff

Here are the second-round tee times and pairings for the LPGA's Kraft Nabisco Championship at Mission Hills CC in Rancho Mirage, Calif. (All times Pacific):

Tee No. 1

7:10 a.m.: Danielle Kang, a-Georgia Hall

7:18 a.m.: Mindy Kim, a-Stephanie Meadow

7:26 a.m.: Karen Stupples, Thidapa Suwannapura

7:34 a.m.: Ha-Neul Kim, Belen Mozo

7:42 a.m.: Meena Lee, Amy Yang

7:50 a.m.: Pat Hurst, Hee Kyung Seo

7:58 a.m.: Jeong Jang, Mika Miyazato

8:06 a.m.: Eun-Hee Ji, Amy Alcott

8:14 a.m.: Katherine Hull-Kirk, Chella Choi

8:22 a.m.: Vicky Hurst, Haeji Kang

8:30 a.m.: Jacqui Concolino, Jee Young Lee

8:38 a.m.: Carlota Ciganda, Yoon-Kyung Heo

8:46 a.m.: Momoko Ueda, Alison Walshe

8:54 a.m.: a-Lindy Duncan, Eunjung Yi

• • •

Tee No. 10

7:10 a.m.: Mo Martin, Gerina Piller

7:18 a.m.: Louise Friberg, Mina Harigae

7:26 a.m.: Seon Hwa Lee, Mi Jung Hur

7:34 a.m.: Pornanong Phatlum, Morgan Pressel

7:42 a.m.: Shanshan Feng, Angela Stanford

7:50 a.m.: Sandra Gal, Ai Miyazato

7:58 a.m ...

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April 4, 2013 | 9:36 p.m.

How it Happened: Choi, Ewart Shadoff, Pettersen lead Kraft's first day

Suzann Pettersen
Golfweek Staff

In the California desert, the latest installment of the Kraft Nabisco Championship – the LPGA season's first major – is underway in Rancho Mirage, Calif., at the Dinah Shore Tournament Course at Mission Hills Country Club.

From World No. 1 Stacy Lewis and previous No. 1 Yani Tseng to 14-year-old Angel Yin and 15-year-old Lydia Ko, the Kraft offers plenty of storylines.

We'll have all the latest again tomorrow. Here's how things unfolded during Thursday's first round:

Tee times for Friday's second round

• • •

Update No. 39: 9:33 p.m EDT

Looks like everyone who's going to finish the first round under par is done for the day. The lead belongs to Na Yeon Choi, Jodi Ewart Shadoff and Suzann Pettersen, tied at 4 under after carding 68s (Choi and Pettersen in the morning, Ewart Shadoff in the afternoon). Their lead is one over Amy Yang and Anna Nordqvist.

Farther back, Jane Park and Moriya Jutanugarn finish with pars to stay at 2-under and T-6, tied with nine others, while Alison Walshe finishes her round with a birdie to move to 1 under and T-17 in a group of six.

PS – You thought the recent #Dufnering ...

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April 4, 2013 | 7:11 p.m.

Michelle Wie's struggles should act as cautionary tale for Lydia Ko

Lydia Ko (right) and Michelle Wie wait to hit on the 11th hole during the first round of the LPGA Kraft Nabisco Championship.
Beth Ann Baldry

RANCHO MIRAGE, Calif. – Michelle Wie’s latest DIY project was her own hair, a peacock combo of pink, purple and turquoise. She got bored during the off-week.

“I’m planning on chopping it off next week,” she explained, “so it’s my last hoorah.” We’re not talking Anne Hathaway short, just 4 or 5 inches.

Wie’s creative side is well-documented on her blog and Twitter account. The baking, the crafts, the nail designs. It’s a combination of imagination and desperation that led to the 90-degree putting posture she now employs, something an onlooker at the Kraft Nabisco described today as the table-top technique. Wie made it up, though instructor David Leadbetter naturally worries what the posture might do to her lower back. It’s likely not a lifelong approach.

Wie opened the year’s first major championship with an even-par 72. For a short time it looked as though she might charge to the top of the board, but all in all it’s a very respectable start for the player who once rocked the Coachella Valley.

Amateur Lydia Ko, 15, played alongside Wie on Thursday and matched her score. It was the worst score Ko probably ...

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April 4, 2013 | 6:39 p.m.

Kraft notebook: Suzann Pettersen is all smiles after opening 68

Suzann Pettersen watches her tee shot on the 11th hole during the first round of the LPGA Kraft Nabisco Championship.
Julie Williams

RANCHO MIRAGE, Calif. – The Kraft Nabisco is a tournament heavy in tradition, and a week during which LPGA legends are easy to spot. First-round morning co-leader Suzann Pettersen had her “aha” moment with Kathy Whitworth during 2009’s tournament. The 88-time LPGA winner shook Pettersen’s hand at Mission Hills and delivered a memorable line.

“(She) said don’t ever let the passion get in my way,” Pettersen remembered on Thursday. “It’s really spot on. Just need to get up there and hit the shots that I’m seeing.”

Pettersen says on-course enjoyment is the hardest part of the game for her. Thursday’s bogey-free 68, however, left a smile on her face. It’s a notable number, considering the Kraft Nabisco venue’s difficult reputation, not to mention early-week talk of 3-inch rough on the Dinah Shore Tournament Course.

“You ask me on Sunday if I can go four bogey-free rounds, I’ll be very happy,” said Pettersen, who is tied for the early lead with Na Yeon Choi. The two played together on a hot, still day in the desert.

Pettersen, who made birdies at Nos. 7, 16, 17 and 18, said she had only one up-and-down ...

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April 3, 2013 | 9:25 p.m.

Kraft: Theismann reflects on career-ending injury at pro-am

Joe Theismann was paired with Juli Inkster at the Kraft Nabisco pro-am on Wednesday.
Beth Ann Baldry

RANCHO MIRAGE, Calif. – Joe Theismann was paired with Juli Inkster in Wednesday’ pro-am round at the Kraft Nabisco Championship, and odds are they did not compare past ailments.

Inkster, 52, was sidelined with an injury for the first time in her career last season. Theismann, of course, suffered one of the most horrific injuries in NFL history.

“I laugh about golfers all the time,” Theismann said midway through his afternoon round at Mission Hills. “Why don’t you stand there and I’ll get some of my 300-pound buddies to knock you on the ground and see how excited you are to get back on the tee.”

Theismann’s career-ending leg injury was back in the news after Louisville’s Kevin Ware endured his own stomach-turning leg injury during Sunday night’s NCAA basketball tournament.

Theismann, who was watching the game live, sent out a Tweet that went viral and later got in touch with Ware, who he said is in a “great place mentally.”

“I think he’s going to be a great inspiration to his basketball team,” Theismann said.

For Theismann, memories from the football field in 1985 came flooding back.

“It came back to me instantly,” he ...

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April 3, 2013 | 9:12 p.m.

Notes: Modest Lydia Ko, 15, at Kraft for the 'experience'

New Zealand amateur Lydia Ko smiles during a news conference at the LPGA Kraft Nabisco Championship on Wednesday.
Julie Williams

RANCHO MIRAGE, Calif. – For a 15-year-old world beater, Lydia Ko has a modest outlook. When it was time for Ko to take the podium Wednesday for a pre-Kraft interview, she took the seat that former World No. 1 Yani Tseng had occupied minutes before. Tseng was among the players to sing Ko’s praises here. The 15-year-old has a legitimate chance to win this tournament.

“I think everyone is being overly too nice,” Ko said with a straight face.

Tseng remembers Ko making this game look easy when they played together in February at the Women’s Australian Open. Ko shot 63 that day.

“She smiled, and after she made a putt, she was like, ‘Thank you, thank you very much.’ It was so easy. . . . I think I was like that when I played my best. It’s just that easy.”

But Ko already has three professional victories, and she knows what it’s like to have fans and media clamoring for her time. It has made the game that much more exciting, yet that much more serious.

“Obviously I’m trying my best out here, but I’ve come here for the experience,” she said.

As usual, Ko has ...

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April 3, 2013 | 8:52 p.m.

Victory at Kraft Nabisco would put Yani Tseng back on course

Yani Tseng lost her No. 1 ranking last month to American Stacy Lewis.
Beth Ann Baldry

— Yani Tseng will have a snorkel in the bag on Sunday in case things go her way. One jump into Poppie’s Pond was not enough for the non-swimmer.

It has been an odd year for Tseng since she last stepped foot on the Dinah Shore Tournament Course. The former World No. 1 isn’t as automatic as she once was, and she’s not even the favorite coming into the Kraft Nabisco, where she has finished 1-2-3 her last three starts.

Tseng can pinpoint the moment things started to unravel. When her streak of top-10 finishes ended with a T-12 at the ShopRite LPGA Classic, Tseng read an online report that asked “What’s wrong with Yani?”

“But I just finished 12th,” Tseng said. “That is the time I felt like, no, this is not right. . . . It kind of broke my heart a little bit with the press saying that.”

Tseng seemed lost when she finished T-59 at the Wegmans LPGA Championship. From there it got worse: MC/T-50/MC/MC.

Tseng rebounded in the fall with several top-fives in Asia, and took six weeks off during the offseason to hit refresh.

She says those criticisms ...

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April 3, 2013 | 3:31 p.m.

Alison Lee WDs from Kraft Nabisco Championship, cites poor play

Alison Lee during the Wyndham Cup.
Julie Williams

— Alison Lee certainly can attest to the ebb-and-flow nature of competitive golf. Lee says her game left her last month, and she cited that poor play as the reason for her withdrawal from the Kraft Nabisco Championship, which begins Thursday.

“Every year I always go through this little phase where I lose the feel for my game,” said Lee, who has signed to play for UCLA in the fall.

Lee was one of nine amateurs granted a coveted sponsor exemption into this event. She was not replaced in the Kraft field.

Lee earned her Kraft spot last year in an early-week 18-hole junior qualifier hosted by the Southern California Golf Association. It was the fourth LPGA major start of her career. Last summer, she qualified for and made the cut at the U.S. Women’s Open.

The top-ranked girl in the Golfweek/Sagarin Junior Rankings, Lee already has been to the bottom of the game and back. She slumped hard in 2011, withdrawing before the end of the PGA Junior Championship and finishing last in stroke-play qualifying at the U.S. Women’s Amateur. In 2012, Lee won two AJGA invitationals, was runner-up at the U ...

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