GOLF ROUNDUP : When McGann Fiddles, Alfredsson Burns

Michelle McGann opened the door with a flood of bogeys and Sweden’s Helen Alfredsson barged through with a record performance for a two-stroke lead going into the final round of the U.S. Women’s Open at Carmel, Ind.

McGann bogeyed the first four holes at Crooked Stick Golf Club on Saturday and Alfredsson put together a three-under-par 69, giving her a record 54-hole score of 207 and a two-stroke advantage over Hiromi Kobayashi of Japan.

Pat Bradley, the 1981 champion, moved into contention with the day’s low round of 68 and was at 210, along with Donna Andrews, whose 69 included four consecutive birdies starting at the seventh hole.

Alfredsson, 28, eclipsed the tournament 54-hole record of 208 set by Amy Alcott in 1980 and matched by Liselotte Neumann in 1988. Alcott and Neumann won the Open in those years.

Alfredsson took the lead with birdies on Nos. 7 and 8 and an eagle on the 435-yard, par-five ninth for a 32 on the front nine.

McGann plunged from the leader board with bogeys on the first four holes and a double bogey on the eighth. She eagled No. 9 and birdied No. 10, but a double bogey on 11 and a bogey at 12 ended the brief rally.

She bogeyed 18, finishing with a 78 and a 214 score that left her seven strokes off the pace.

“I ate a pretty good breakfast, but I think the adrenaline was flowing so much that my blood sugar might have gotten pretty low,” said McGann, who is an insulin-dependent diabetic. “I felt like I was swinging OK, but my legs, I couldn’t really feel them. . . . Maybe next time, I’ll eat a little bit more and take a little less insulin.”

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Paul Azinger shot a seven-under-par 64 to take a one-stroke lead in the New England Classic after 54 holes.

Azinger had eight birdies and one bogey over the 7,110-yard Pleasant Valley Country Club course at Sutton, Mass.

His three-round total of 13-under-par 200 was one stroke off the tournament record.

One shot behind was Bobby Clampett, who broke a streak of 20 pars with a birdie on the third hole and came in with a four-under 67.

David Peoples played himself into a four-way tie at 10-under with a near flawless 62, tying the course record set in 1989 by Nick Price.

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Jim Colbert shot a four-under-par 67 to take a two-stroke lead after two rounds of the Senior PGA Tour’s First of America Classic at Grand Rapids, Mich.

Colbert leads Lee Trevino and Bob Murphy with 18 holes to play at the Highlands. Trevino also had a 67, and Murphy shot 68.

Butch Baird, who tied the course record with a 63 in taking the first-round lead, shot 72 to drop three strokes behind.

A chip-in from 20 feet on the third hole provided the first of six birdies for Colbert, and birdies at Nos. 16 and 18 gave him the lead.

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Liam Higgins blew a six-stroke lead when he finished bogey, double bogey to wind up with a 76 and only a share of the lead in the British Seniors Open at the Royal Lytham and St. Annes course.

Tied with the Irish golfer at four-over 217 was Bob Charles, who shot a par 71.

Amateur Joel Hirsch, an insurance company executive from Chicago, was one stroke off the pace, tied with Tommy Horton of England. Hirsch, 52, shot a 74. Horton had a 73.

Higgins took a three-stroke lead into the round and had a 33 on the front nine, but he shot a 43 on the back.