Choi maintains his lead with a birdie on last hole

K.J. Choi made a 10-foot birdie putt on the 18th hole to finish the third round of the Chrysler Championship the same way he started, with a one-shot lead over Ernie Els and two others.

In a blustery round Saturday in which six players had at least a share of the lead, Choi overcame a few hiccups on the Copperhead course at Innisbrook in Palm Harbor, Fla., for a one-under-par 70.

Choi never made more than three pars in a row, and that was on the back nine when he was trying to hang on. He was at nine-under 204 and will try to win this tournament for the second time in five years.

The biggest surprise was the tour’s hottest player, Troy Matteson. He started the day eight shots behind, was five under through his first five holes and wound up with a 64, leaving him only two shots behind going into the final round.

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Jim Thorpe finished the third round of the Charles Schwab Cup Championship in Sonoma, Calif., with a two-stroke lead over Jay Haas, Tom Kite and Loren Roberts.

Thorpe parlayed four straight birdies after the turn into a five-under 67.

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Annika Sorenstam shot her second consecutive four-under 68 to increase her lead to seven strokes after the third round of the European Ladies Tour’s season-ending Dubai Ladies Masters in the United Arab Emirates.

The top-ranked Swede had a 15-under 201 total on the Emirates Golf Club’s Majlis Course. Karrie Webb was second after a 70, and European Solheim Cup captain Helen Alfredsson was seven under after a 68.

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Jin Joo Hong, a South Korean playing in her first LPGA Tour event, shot a five-under 67 to take a four-stroke lead after the second round of the Kolon-Hana Bank Championship in Gyeongju, South Korea.

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Will Besseling shot a seven-under 65 to help the Netherlands take a two-stroke lead over the United States, Canada and Wales after the third round of the World Amateur Team Championship in Stellenbosch, South Africa.