Okamoto Struggles to 73 but Retains Lead by One Shot

Ayako Okamoto struggled to a one-over-par 73 Saturday for a one-shot lead over Beth Daniel after three rounds of the $200,000 Elizabeth Arden golf tournament.

Daniel faltered on No. 18, hitting her third shot on the par-5 hole over the green and to the left in the rough. She hit a chip shot that “didn’t go very far” and stopped 25 feet short of the pin, giving her a bogey and costing her a tie for the lead.

Okamoto, in the same threesome, played the final hole in regulation, two-putting from 25 feet for par.

The Japanese star, who started the round with a three-shot lead, had a total of 209. Daniel had a 71 over the 6,103-yard Turnberry Isle Country Club course for a 210.

Debbie Massey, looking for her first U.S. win since 1979, was at 211 after a 71. Tied at 212 were Muffin Spencer-Devlin and Hollis Stacy, after 72s, and tied at 213 were Lori Garbacz (71) and Juli Inkster (72).

Massey tied Okamoto for the lead with a birdie on the 11th hole, and they were joined in the deadlock when Daniel birdied the 13th. But Massey fell back with a three-putt bogey on the 14th and also had trouble on the 18th with a bogey.

Okamoto, who said her ailing back didn’t bother her during the round, said: “I was very much worried about the pressure” of being in the lead.

“I sliced, I hooked, I topped it, I hit every kind of shot,” she said. “I didn’t know where it was going. I was uncomfortable.”