Sorenstam is surging

Annika Sorenstam was on the back nine of her runaway when a marshal's loud command for the quiet crowd to get even quieter forced her to back off her ball just as she was set to hit.

Sorenstam's caddie admonished the marshal, but Sorenstam wasn't bothered.

"That's OK," she told the marshal. "I'm happy."

Bad marshaling aside, Sorenstam had a lot to be happy about in the third round of the Nabisco Championship. She didn't make a bogey, finished with a 6-under-par 66, and built a five-stroke lead over Rosie Jones going into the final round in Rancho Mirage, Calif.

In doing so, the most dominant player in women's golf all but wrapped up the first major championship of the year while setting herself up for another entry into the LPGA record books.

"Just a great day for me out there," Sorenstam said.

Sorenstam, of course, has been having a lot of great days lately. But yesterday's third round was among the best, as she seemingly put a lock on her record-tying fifth straight win.

Sorenstam finished five shots ahead of Jones, but that doesn't tell the whole story. Only two other players are closer than 10 shots, and Sorenstam is an intimidating presence on top of the leaderboard.

About all she has left is an 18-hole stroll today and the ceremonial winner's jump into the pond surrounding the 18th green.

"She's the last person you want to have a five-shot lead," Jones said.

Sorenstam birdied four holes on the front nine and two on the back to shoot the lowest score of the week on the Mission Hills Country Club course. She did it without getting into any serious difficulty on a day when light breezes and warm temperatures offered ideal scoring conditions. Jones, in her final year on Tour, birdied the final hole to shoot 71 and inch a shot closer, but the only other players within even a sniff of the lead were Mi Hyun Kim and Cristie Kerr at seven shots back. Assuming Sorenstam wins today, she will tie the record set by Nancy Lopez in 1978 of winning five consecutive events she played in."Tomorrow I want to have a day like I did today," Sorenstam said.

European and Asian PGA -- Frankie Minoza was 8 under through 14 holes in Jakarta, Indonesia, in the rain-suspended third round of the Indonesia Open, leaving the 45-year-old Filipino star just a stroke out of the lead and in position to take a run at 59. Minoza, the 1986 and 1990 winner, needs to play the final four holes in 3 under this morning to become the first player to break 60 on the PGA European Tour and Asian Tour. However, a sub-60 round would not count in the record books because players were allowed to lift, clean, and place their balls in the fairways.

Minoza chipped in from 30 yards for an eagle on the par-5 ninth and also had eight birdies and a bogey to reach 14 under.

Thailand's Thaworn Wiratchant leads at 15 under with nine holes left in his third round.

Minoza will resume play today with a 15-foot birdie putt on the 15th green.

"This place seems to like me. I'm surprised," Minoza said.

Colin Montgomerie was nine strokes out of the lead at 6 under with four holes left in the round.