Veteran Swede Helen Alfredsson and American Paula Creamer held a share of the lead midway through Saturday's third round at the US Women's Open. Alfredsson, seeking her sixth LPGA Tour title, narrowly missed a 10-foot birdie putt on the tricky ninth green as she reached the turn level with playing partner Creamer at seven under overall. On a blustery day at Interlachen Country Club where five players were briefly tied for the lead, world number four Creamer was three under for the round and Alfredsson two under. South Korea's Mi Hyun-kim was a further stroke back at six under after 12 holes, level with American Stacey Lewis (11). Finland's Minea Blomqvist, playing in the final group, was five under with 10 holes remaining alongside playing partner Park Inbee of South Korea. Alfredsson made the first significant move of the round with birdies on the first two par-fives, the second and third, to grab the outright lead at seven under. However, the 43-year-old then three-putted for bogey at the par-four sixth to drop back into a four-way tie at the top with Blomqvist, Creamer and Brazil's Angela Park. Soon after, Lewis birdied the par-three eighth to create a log-jam of five players atop the leaderboard. Alfredsson, a veteran of seven Solheim Cup teams, picked up her third shot of the day at the par-four seventh where she almost drove the green before getting up and down from greenside rough. Moments later, though, she was joined by Creamer who rolled in a curling six-footer for a matching birdie on the seventh green. They both parred the next two holes to reach the turn a stroke in front of the chasing pack. World number one Lorena Ochoa, seven off the pace when the weather-delayed second round was completed earlier in the day, slid further down the leaderboard. In pursuit of her third major victory in four starts, the Mexican dropped four shots in her first four holes and was four over for the tournament with three to play. Larrazabal in the lead Spanish rookie Pablo Larrazabal held off three of Europe's most influential players on Saturday to lead the French Open for a third successive round. Larrazabal, ranked 481 in the world and 128th in Europe's money-list, takes a three-stroke lead into Sunday's final round over eight-time European number one Colin Montgomerie and Denmark's Soren Hansen. Another former European order of merit winner, Lee Westwood, is a further stroke back. The Spanish youngster looked unruffled in such illustrious company as he went out in four-under before covering the back nine in level par for a score of 67 that took him to 11-under. Montgomerie had edged to within a stroke of him while Westwood, a recent third-placed finisher at the US Open, clawed to within two along with Hansen. They had little effect on the Spaniard who has not used a driver all week and after bogeying the short 16th for a second consecutive day, he immediately counteracted with his final birdie at the next. – Reuters __
