The LPGA Final Qualifying Tournament will get underway Wednesday at Daytona Beach, Fla. and 12 Canadians will tee-it-up with hopes of securing LPGA Tour status for 2015.

The final qualifier is a 90-hole, stroke-play format and will be played on the Jones and Hill courses at LPGA International.

The top 20 players from the 154-player field will earn Priority in Category 12 (full-time status for 2015), while players finishing 21^st -45^th will receive Priority in Category 17 (conditional-status for 2015).

There will be a 72-hole cut after play on Saturday. The top 70 plus ties will tee off in the fifth and final round on Sunday.

There is a $50,000 purse for the event with the medalist taking home $5,000.

The Canadian participants in this year’s final qualifying stage are:

• Brittany Henderson (Smiths Falls, Ont.)
• Augusta James (Kingston, Ont.)
• Sara-Maude Juneau (Fossambault-Sur-Le-Lac, Què.)
• Lorie Kane (Charlottetown, P.E.I.)
• Soo-Bin Kim (Coquitlam, B.C.) *
• Sue Kim (Langley, B.C.)
• Jennifer Kirby (Paris, Ont.)
• Maude-Aimee Leblanc (Sherbrooke, Què.)
• Rebecca Lee-Bentham (Toronto, Ont.)
• Brogan McKinnon (Misssissauga, Ont.)
• Samantha Richdale (Kelowna, B.C.)
• Nicole Vandermade (Brantford, Ont.)

* denotes Canadian resident

The inaugural Canadian Pacific Women’s Open received accolades at the annual Gold Driver Awards at the recently held LPGA Tournament Owners Association (TOA) Annual Meeting in Naples, Fla.

The 2014 Canadian Pacific Women’s Open held at London Hunt and Country Club received top honours (Gold Award) for its television commercials and took home silver medals in the Player Engagement as well as Posters/Billboards/Outdoor & Mobile Ads categories.

“It’s an honour for the Canadian Pacific Women’s Open to be recognized with such prestigious awards by the LPGA Tournament Owners Association,” said Tournament Director Brent McLaughlin. “Golf Canada and Canadian Pacific are exceptionally proud of the marketing efforts that went into our first-ever Canadian Pacific Women’s Open, and we look forward to creating an even more compelling campaign in 2015.”

Gold, Silver and Bronze awards were presented in thirteen categories: Programs, Magazine Advertisements, Pairings Sheets, Newspaper Advertisements, Radio Spots, Billboards/Posters/Outdoor and Mobile Ads, Charity Promotions, Website, Marketing and Sales Materials, Sponsorship Activation, Social Media Campaign, TV Advertisements and Overall Tournament Experience.

Judges for the annual competition were John Mark Adkison, Associate Director of Athletics for Embry Riddle University; Eric Albrecht, Vice President for Events Development & Sports Marketing for the National Kidney Foundation; and Torrey Gane, Senior Director of Business Affairs for the PGA Tour.

TV Spot (Gold Award Winner):

Posters/Billboards/Outdoor & Mobile Ads  (Silver Award Winner):

 The full list of winners:

2014 Gold Driver Award: Evian Championship

NAPLES, Fla. — Stacy Lewis became the first American in 21 years to sweep the three biggest awards on the LPGA Tour, which she considered more valuable than a $1 million bonus.

Lewis closed with a 1-under 71 in the CME Group Tour Championship on Sunday, tied for ninth in the LPGA Tour finale. But it was enough for her to win LPGA Tour player of the year for the second time in three seasons. She also won the Vare Trophy for the lowest scoring average and the money title.

The last American to sweep the awards was Betsy King in 1993.

“The $1 million would have been nice,” said Lewis, who was six shots out of a playoff. “But those three, that’s what I came here for. … It’s been hard to play the last four days, and it’s nice to be done. I didn’t have my best stuff. I’m pretty surprised to finish where I did.”

Two years ago, the 29-year-old Lewis became the first American since Beth Daniel to win the points-based player of the year. She added the Vare Trophy a year ago. And on Sunday, she collected all three at the same time.

Inbee Park, the No. 1 in the world, was the only player who could have kept Lewis from the awards. She trailed in all of them, but struggled all week at Tiburon Golf Club and finished in a tie for 24th, four shots worse than Lewis.

Lewis finished atop the money list with $2,539,039, more than $300,000 over Park. Her scoring average was 69.532, while Park was second at 69.682. Michelle Wie was third in the Vare Trophy standings (69.818), followed by So Yeon Ryu at 69.978.

It was the first time in LPGA history that four women had a sub-70 scoring average.

Lewis felt as much stress this week as at any major, mainly because Park was on a roll and Lewis was struggling. She received one good omen Saturday night when her family ordered Chinese food and her father tossed her a fortune cookie.

Lewis kept it in her pocket during the final day of the tournament and read it aloud to the media when she was done: “Good news of long-awaited event will arrive soon.”

“The last couple of weeks have been tough,” Lewis said. “The game hasn’t been exactly where I wanted it to be. I figured (Park would) keep it rolling this week, and I knew I needed to find something. It was probably four of the hardest rounds of golf I’ve ever played.”

Lewis won three times this year, though she failed to do so at a major. Still, she wouldn’t trade what she ended up with.

“Before this week, it was good. Now it’s a little bit better,” Lewis said when asked to measure her year. “I’d like to have taken a major championship. But winning these three awards makes it almost great.”

NAPLES, Fla. — The biggest challenge facing Lydia Ko is how she can top a rookie season like this one.

The 17-year-old from New Zealand sat next to a pair of crystal trophies Sunday evening. At her feet was a glass box that was stuffed with cash to symbolize the $1 million bonus she picked up on an historic end to the LPGA Tour season.

She was an instant millionaire when she closed with a 4-under 68 to get into a three-way playoff in the CME Group Tour Championship. She already had finished high enough to clinch the inaugural “Race to CME Globe” and its $1 million bonus.

Then, she collected another trophy by winning the Tour Championship with a par on the fourth extra hole to pick up an extra $500,000. Only the tournament earnings count toward the money list, and it made Ko the first rookie to surpass $2 million in a year.

The most pressure she felt all week was Thursday night, when she had to give an acceptance speech as LPGA rookie of the year.

“It’s been an awesome week, and a week I’ll never forget,” Ko said.

As an amateur, her mother used to give her $10 for every shot she finished under par. Ko won twice on the LPGA Tour as an amateur, and she made her pro debut last year at the Tour Championship by earning $16,063.

So to leave town with $1.5 million in one day was a little difficult to digest.

“It’s huge money, you know?” Ko said. “Even $1,000 is huge money. For us, $100 is huge money. So it’s getting bigger. But the great things about my friends is most of them don’t play golf. When I’m hanging around with them, we don’t talk about golf or the hook I hit on 7 or whatever. So that’s what I really love. I feel like I can get off the course, get my mind free and just be that teenager.”

On the golf course, she looks like a world beater.

Ko already has five LPGA Tour victories, and she’s still not old enough to legally drink the champagne that players sprayed on her when she won. She heads back to New Zealand for a two-month offseason before figuring out what she can do next.

“It’s going to be tough,” she said. “I think I played pretty awesome this year. I’ve had 14 top 10s and three wins. It’s a year that I would have never thought I would have. It’s hard year to top. Just playing consistently is my goal for my whole career.”

She was consistent on Sunday, especially in the playoff held on the 425-yard 18th hole, which yielded only four birdies in the final round.

Ko left it to the others to blink first.

Julieta Granada of Paraguay, who closed with a 71, was the first to be eliminated when she three-putted from the collar of the green, missing a 5-foot par putt that spun in and out of the cup.

Carlota Ciganda of Spain twice had a chance to pick up her first LPGA Tour victory. She closed with a 70, a score that could have been one shot better if not for missing a 3-foot birdie putt on the 17th hole in regulation that would have given her a one-shot lead.

On the third playoff hole, Ciganda had a 5-foot birdie putt for the win and missed it. On the fifth time playing the 18th hole – and fourth in the playoff – she pulled her approach left of the green and watched it bounce down the slope and into the hazard.

“Just missed one shot, and not the right way,” Ciganda said.

She took a penalty drop and chipped to 3 feet. Ko had two putts for the win, and her birdie putt stopped an inch from going in. No matter. The kid was a winner again, and richer than ever.

The top three players – Stacy Lewis, Inbee Park and Ko – only had to win the tournament to assure themselves the $1 million bonus. Lewis never had much of a chance and tied for ninth. Park was four shots worse and tied for 24th.

Ko just went about her work, thinking more about birdies than cash.

“She’s a great player,” Lewis said. “She got that innocence about her that she doesn’t even realize what’s going on. She probably has no idea how the scenarios and points work out. Maybe it’s to her advantage.”

Lewis did not leave empty-handed.

She became the first American in 21 years to sweep the three most significant awards on the LPGA Tour – player of the year, the Vare Trophy for the lowest scoring average and the money title.

“The $1 million would have been nice,” Lewis said. “But those three, that’s what I came here for.”

NAPLES, Fla. — Julieta Granada kept in front of a growing pack of challengers Saturday with a 2-under 70 and a one-shot lead in the CME Globe Tour Championship, only one part of what was shaping up as a tense conclusion to the LPGA Tour season.

The race for $1 million was even tighter.

Granada’s long two-putt for par on the 18th hole at Tiburon Golf Club gave her a one-shot lead over Morgan Pressel and Carlota Ciganda of Spain, who both made big putts on the final hole. Pressel hit a 7-iron to 5 feet for birdie and a 70, while Ciganda rolled in an 8-foot par putt for a 71.

Sandra Gal of Germany (70) hit into the water for bogey on the 18th and was two shots behind.

None of the top four can win the Race to CME Globe and its $1 million bonus, the biggest payoff in women’s golf.

All that commotion is right behind them.

Stacy Lewis, who effectively wrapped up LPGA player of the year and the Vare Trophy when Inbee Park faltered, made only one mistake in her round of 70. It moved her into a tie for 10th, six shots out of the lead but enough to give her a slight edge in the points race for the $1 million.

Lydia Ko (68) and So Yeon Ryu (70) were tied for fifth, three shots behind. Both are very much in the running for the bonus, especially Ko, who only has to win the tournament. Also still in the mix was Michelle Wie, who survived an up-and-down day for a 72 and was only four shots behind.

All of it will be settled over 18 holes on Sunday, and there’s even a chance for a playoff to decide who gets the winner-take-all bonus.

“I still have a chance – I’m not out of it,” Wie said. “That’s all I can ask for. I’m excited for the opportunity tomorrow, and we’ll see what happens. I’m just going to play as hard as I can and see what I can do.”

Inbee Park, who is No. 2 in the Race to CME Globe, shot a 73 and was 11 shots behind.

Lewis hit every fairway and missed only two greens. She was poised to move closer to the leaders until her approach on the par-5 17th failed to the right and into a hazard, leading to a bogey on the easiest of the par 5s at Tiburon.

Even so, she scored well enough to be in the top 10, not far from the other three players vying for the $1 million.

“I don’t know exactly how it all works, but there are people on the leaderboard I’m definitely cheering for over others,” Lewis said, honest as ever. “I’ve been thinking about all these awards and the Race to the Globe for three, four weeks now. Unfortunately, that’s not going to go away overnight.”

Her only goal Sunday was to hit greens and try to make putts, move up the leaderboard and hold out hope for a big rally to win the tournament.

“That’s what I did today and it really seemed to help me stay focused on the shot at hand,” she said.

Ko, the 17-year-old rookie, made the biggest move. She is No. 3 in the standings, meaning a victory Sunday would guarantee the $1 million bonus (along with $500,000 for winning the tournament). She took on more than she intended with a 6-iron that flirted with trouble left of the 18th green. Instead, it took a hop to the right and settled 3 feet away for a birdie.

“I come to the press room or get asked by the media, and that’s when I go, `Oh, there’s is $1 million on the line.’ When I’m out there, I’m trying to make as many birdies as I can,” Ko said. “I think that’s actually keeping me a little distracted.”

Wie is No. 4 and Ryu is No. 5 in the standings, meaning they need to finish strong and have Ko and Lewis lose some ground to have any chance.

But it’s all right there for any four of them on Sunday.

Granada was the first instant millionaire in LPGA history when she won a winner-take-all format at the ADT Championship eight years ago, her only LPGA victory. At stake is a chance for her to go wire-to-wire for another big prize.

Pressel has gone six years without a win, and that’s all that matters to her. The Tour Championship is all she can win, and Pressel isn’t even up to speed on anything else.

“Someone is going to win $1 million, and it’s not going to be me,” Pressel said. “But there’s other things I can win.”

NAPLES, Fla. — Michelle Wie suddenly is in a position to consider a million ways how a great year can get even better.

On a tough day that only rewarded the best shots, Wie holed out for eagle with a pitching wedge on her way to a 5-under 67 that moved her up high enough on the leaderboard Friday at the CME Group Tour Championship to get into position for a $1 million bonus.

Carlota Ciganda of Spain took advantage of a putting lesson from Spanish great Jose Maria Olazabal to make five birdies for a 67 that gave her a share of the lead with Julieta Granada of Paraguay, who scrambled for a 71. They were at 7-under 137 going into the weekend at the Tiburon Golf Club.

Morgan Pressel, who rallied on the back nine Thursday to overcome a rugged start, shot a 66 and was one shot out of the lead.

All of them would love to win the LPGA Tour season finale because it’s a big title with a $500,000 check for first place. None has a mathematical chance at the $1 million bonus for winning the points-based Race to CME Globe.

And that’s where Wie comes in.

Wie, who captured her first major this year at Pinehurst No. 2 in the U.S. Women’s Open, is No. 4 in the Race to CME Globe. Only the top three players – Stacy Lewis, Inbee Park and 17-year-old Lydia Ko – can win the $1 million bonus simply by winning the tournament.

Wie needs a little bit of help, only she did most of the heavy lifting.

Even though she made bogey on the par-5 opening hole that irritated her, the 25-year-old from Hawaii bounced back with her eagle on No. 7, birdies on the par 5s and a score that put her only two shots out of the lead.

“All I want is an opportunity, a chance,” Wie said. “I’m really proud of myself for giving myself that today. I just want to go out there tomorrow and put myself in a great position for Sunday. That’s all I want, and that’s all I’m asking for. Whatever happens, happens.”

She did get some help from the top three.

Lewis, who opened with a 69 and was only three shots out of the lead, struggled with distance control in the blustery conditions and had to chip in for birdie and make a tough par putt on the 18th to salvage a 74. He was six shots out of the lead.

Park couldn’t get a putt to drop. She also had a 74. Ko had another 71 and was five shots behind.

“Six back is not a horrible position,” Lewis said. “I don’t think anybody is running away with this thing. I think it’s going to end up being pretty bunched up at the end and probably a playoff on Sunday. I’m right where I need to be. I’m trying not to think about player of the year and all that stuff. It’s up there, but trying not to think about it.”

Lewis can sweep all the significant awards at this LPGA Tour finale provided she finishes ahead of Park, and so far she is three shots ahead. Not to be forgotten is that $1 million packaged in $100 in a glass case that they posed with on the eve of the tournament.

Along with prize money, the winner of the Race to CME Globe will receive the largest single-day payoff in the history of women’s golf.

The first step is to try to catch the leaders.

Ciganda was home in Spain last week when she called Olazabal and asked him for a lesson.

“We stay there like three hours on the putting green, just hitting putts,” Ciganda said. “He told me a few things and it seems like it’s working, so I’m pretty happy. I have to thank him. Then we played last Friday before coming here, so it was really nice to play. He’s so passionate about golf. It just his life.”

And how did that match turn out? Ciganda teamed with a Challenge Tour player in Europe, their best ball against Olazabal.

“We won on the last hole,” she said. “But it was tough.”

Pressel was 3 over through 10 holes in the opening round when she battled back for a 72. She was headed for another slow start Friday until knocking in a 15-foot par putt on the third hole, and then she was on her way to the best round of the day.

Granada spent most her time swapping birdies with bogeys, though she stayed atop the leaderboard.

Sarah Jane Smith (69) and Sandra Gal (71) joined Wie at 5-under 139, while So Yeon Ryu had another 70 and was three shots out of the lead. Ryu is at No. 5 in the Race to CME Globe and is on the fringe on contending for the big bonus.

The weekend is important for Wie to keep moving forward, and for Lewis, Park and Ko to start making up ground.

“You can make up a lot of ground quickly,” Granada said. “But your game has to be on. The toughness of the course will show it.”

NAPLES, Fla. – Stacy Lewis was three shots out of the lead Thursday and one step closer to the largest payoff in women’s golf at the CME Group Tour Championship.

Lewis overcame the kind of tension she typically feels on the weekend at majors. She held it together with her short game, made a 25-foot eagle putt late in her opening round and wound up with a 3-under 69 to trail Julieta Granada by three shots.

“It’s going to be a long week if we’re feeling that on Thursday,” Lewis said.

There are two tournaments in one at the Ritz-Carlton Golf Resort.

Granada played bogey-free in a tough wind on the Tiburon Course for a 66 that gave her a two-shot lead over Sandra Gal in the LPGA Tour’s final tournament.

The other event is the Race to CME Globe, which pays a $1 million bonus to the winner. Only the top nine players in the standings can win it, and Granada isn’t one of them. She still hopes to close out the season with her first victory in eight years.

The top three players – Lewis, Inbee Park and 17-year-old Lydia Ko – need only to win the tournament for the $1 million bonus. Lewis is atop the standings, so finishing ahead of the other two is a good spot to be. Park and Ko each shot 71.

“I think everybody is thinking about the $1 million,” Park said.

It certainly showed at the start, especially when Lewis sent her opening tee shot well to the right. She recovered well and nearly holed a bunker shot for birdie.

Conditions were tough enough that only five players broke 70, and 19 of the 69 in the field broke par.

Lewis surged ahead with a hybrid from 217 yards that finished pin-high at the back of the green on the par-5 17th, and she lightly pumped her fist when it fell for eagle.

All week long, the chatter has been about everything at stake at the Tour Championship. Along with the $1 million bonus, Lewis or Park could take home all the significant awards on the LPGA Tour – player of the year, Vare Trophy for lowest scoring average and the money title.

“It’s one good round,” Lewis said. “We’ve got a long, long way to go.”

Granada knows what it’s like to be an instant millionaire. She was a 20-year-old rookie in 2006 when she captured the ADT Championship, which at the time was turned into a winner-take-all extravaganza. That remains her only LPGA victory.

Granada is No. 24 in the standings, though there is plenty on the line at a tournament that still pays $500,000.

“I think all the girls that have a chance, they know what they’re doing out there,” Granada said. “They’re tough and they’re good players, so they will just keep playing their game. This course is a good finish, especially with 17 being a reachable par 5.”

Of the top nine in the standings who have a mathematical shot at the $1 million, only three failed to break par. Defending champion Shanshan Feng (No. 6) and Karrie Webb (No. 9) each had a 74, while Anna Nordqvist (No. 7) shot 77.

So Yeon Ryu (No. 5) had a 70. U.S. Women’s Open champion Michelle Wie, who is fourth in the standings, opened with two early birdies and was in good shape until a double bogey from a bunker on No. 16 and a bogey on the 17th, which felt like giving up two shots to the field. She was at 72.

Lewis thought she easily could have been 3 over through three holes, so toiling for pars at least calmed her down for a challenging day.

“Those first three or four holes, my swing was fine. I just wasn’t trusting what I was doing,” Lewis said. “You’re worried about making a mistake or a big number. That was the hardest part. … I don’t know if Lydia quite understands all that’s going on, but you could see it in Inbee and probably in me, too. We both played some tentative golf today, and hopefully, we can both free it up as we go throughout the week.”

Park made 15 pars in what she called a “boring round” with plenty of birdie chances and very few marked on her card. Just like Lewis, though, the five-time major champion didn’t shoot herself out of the tournament.

“Just happy that I still have a chance to win everything,” Park said. “I’m going to play very hard the next three days.”

NAPLES, Fla. — The LPGA Tour added one new tournament and one big sponsor.

Along with releasing another strong schedule for 2015, the LPGA Tour announced Tuesday that All Nippon Airways has signed a five-year deal to be the title sponsor of the first major championship of the year in the California desert.

The ANA Inspiration replaces the Kraft Nabisco Championship in name only. Still intact are the traditions at Mission Hills Country Club in Rancho Mirage, from Dinah Shore’s name on the trophy to the winner jumping in Poppy’s Pond and wearing a white robe.

“I think most fans of not just the LPGA but of golf and sport in general know when they watch that event that this is the event where the winner jumps in the lake,” said Karrie Webb, a two-time winner of that major. “I think it’s very important that we stay at Mission Hills, and another reason why we’re glad ANA was happy to come to Rancho Mirage.”

The purse will increase to $2.5 million next year, and is expected to go to at least $3 million by the end of the contract.

It was the second major in which the LPGA Tour was able to replace a title sponsor. Wegmans ended its sponsorship with the LPGA Championship, and the tour joined with the PGA of America to create the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship.

Only a few years ago, the LPGA Tour had a 23-tournament schedule.

Now it is up to 33 tournaments, which doesn’t include the Solheim Cup that will be played in Germany next September.

The LPGA Tour added one tournament to its schedule – the Coates Golf Championship, which will be played in Ocala, Florida the last week in January. That gives the LPGA Tour a Florida tournament in January for the first time since 2001.

That will be followed by the Pure Silk-Bahamas LPGA Classic, meaning players have two tournaments before its three-week Asia and Australia swing.

“We wanted to make sure that our U.S. fan base and media connected with us before we went to Australia, Thailand and Singapore, which we didn’t do a few years back,” Commissioner Mike Whan said.

The women’s majors still are up against the men. The ANA Inspiration is a week before the Masters. The KPMG Women’s PGA Championship is the week before the U.S. Open. And the U.S. Women’s Open is a week before the men play the British Open at St. Andrews.

The LPGA has a six-week swing through Asia at the end of the year, as usual, before winding up with the Lorena Ochoa Invitational in Mexico and the season-ending CME Group Tour Championship.

The 2015 LPGA schedule includes two stops in Canada. The Manulife LPGA Classic will head to a new venue in 2015, being contested June 3-7 at Whistle Bear Golf Club in Cambridge, Ont. The Canadian Pacific Women’s Open, conducted by Golf Canada, will head to The Vancouver Golf Club in Coquitlam, B.C. August 17-23.

MEXICO CITY — Christina Kim won the Lorena Ochoa Invitational on Sunday for her first LPGA Tour title in nine years, beating Shanshan Feng in a playoff after losing a five-stroke lead.

Kim won with a tap-in par on the par-4 18th on the second extra hole at Club de Golf Mexico.

“This is the greatest win in my life, without a doubt,” Kim said.

The 30-year-old American celebrated with an exuberant dance and jumped up and down on the green. Kim hugged caddie T.J. Jones, boyfriend Duncan French and friend Michelle Wie, with Wie wiping away tears after embracing the winner. French is Wie’s caddie.

“I can’t put into words how I’m feeling right now. Kim said. “I’m still riding so many emotions. It feels surreal. I can’t explain. I’m so overwhelmed right now. I’m so proud and honored to be a champion for such an incredible tournament.”

Kim won for the first time since the Tournament of Champions in November 2005, ending a 221-tournament victory drought. She also won the 2004 Longs Drug Challenge.

“She jumped up and she was really happy,” Feng said. “I felt the same thing. I was really happy for her because she’s a good player, good person.”

Feng, from China, drove left on the second playoff hole, with her ball settling too close to a tree truck for her to do anything but chip sideways into the fairway. With Kim already pin high 20 feet right of the hole, Feng hit her 9-iron approach to 25 feet – also to the right. Her par putt slid by the right edge, and Kim two-putted for the emotional victory.

Feng had a birdie putt to win on No. 18 on the first playoff hole, but left her 15-footer inches short and left. Kim then made a 5-foot par putt to extend the playoff.

Kim bogeyed the final hole of regulation – running a 3-footer past the left edge – for a 1-under 71 that left her tied with Feng at 15-under 273.

“My brain just didn’t work right there,” Kim said.

Feng shot 66.

“I thought other than Christina, the rest of us were competing for second place,” Feng said. “I never thought I could catch up. … I had a really solid run.”

After bogeying Nos. 14 and 15 to fall into a tie, Kim rebounded with birdies on Nos. 16 and 17 to take a one-stroke lead.

“I was just thinking that there were still chances for me to make birdie,” Kim said. “All the last four days I was thinking, `What would Lorena do?’ She would gather herself. She would know that she has the ability to make more birdies and just play her best. And whatever happens, happens.”

Feng played the four par 5s in 5 under, making an eagle on No. 2 and birdies on Nos. 6, 11 and 17, and chipped in for birdie on the par-4 15th. She won the LPGA Malaysia last month.

“She shot 6 under. She played lights out,” Kim said. “It was a very easy round to watch her play. She just made it look so easy while I was bumbling around with the trees.”

Top-ranked Inbee Park was third at 11 under after a 68. Brittany Lincicome and So Yeon Ryu followed at 9 under. Lincicome had a 69, and Ryu shot 71.

Lexi Thompson, the winner last year at Guadalajara Country Club, holed out from 129 yards for a double eagle on No. 2. She finished with a 73, also making two double bogeys, five bogeys and five birdies, to tie for 15th in the 36-player field at 3 under.

MEXICO CITY — Christina Kim shot a 4-under 68 on Saturday to increase her lead to five strokes in the Lorena Ochoa Invitational.

A stroke ahead after each of the first two rounds, Kim had a 14-under 202 total at Club de Golf Mexico. She won the last of her two LPGA Tour titles in 2005.

Kim matched China’s Shanshan Feng for the best round of the day in calm, sunny conditions on the tree-lined course. The 30-year-old American birdied two of the first three holes, bogeyed No. 5 and pulled away with birdies on Nos. 10, 13 and 17.

Feng was second. She won the LPGA Malaysia last month.

South Korea’s So Yeon Ryu, Spain’s Azahara Munoz and Thailand’s Pornanong Phatlum were 8 under. Ryu had a 69, and Munoz and Phatlum shot 71.

Top-ranked Inbee Park was sixth at 7 under after a 69. She’s coming off a victory two weeks ago in the LPGA Taiwan.

Paula Creamer, second entering the round, had a double bogey and two bogeys in a 76 to drop into a tie for eighth in the 36-player field at 5 under.

Michelle Wie was 3 under after a 71. She won the 2009 event at Guadalajara Country Club for her first LPGA Tour victory.

Second-ranked Stacy Lewis had a 70 to reach even par.