Field will be trimmed to eight at ADT Championship

2007-11-17

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WEST PALM BEACH, Florida (Ticker) -- Sixteen competitors begin play on Saturday at the $1.55 million ADT Championship, but only eight will remain at the end of the day.

Lorena Ochoa, Suzann Pettersen and Paula Creamer headline the list of players still in contention to capture the $1 million first prize at the at the Trump International Golf Club.

At the conclusion of Saturday's third round, the field will be cut in half to the top-eight players based on their third-round, 18-hole scores. The list was cut from 32 to 16 following Friday's second round.

Korean Mi Hyun Kim carded the best score through the first 36 holes to with a 7-under 137 to comfortably make the cut. Christina Kim and Morgan Pressel were close behind at 6-under.

However, the first two rounds are no longer relevant heading into Saturday as the remaining 16 players begin with a fresh scorecard.

It will be the same format on Sunday, as the remaining eight players will begin their quest for the championship with a clean slate. Based on Saturday's order of finish, players will be able choose which of the four groups they want to compete in during the final round.

Two conspicuous absentees here are defending Julieta Granada - who failed to qualify for the original 32-player field - and Annika Sorenstam, who did not make the cut after losing a three-way sudden death playoff on Friday to both Natalie Gulbis and Ai Miyazato.

A former world No. 1 and the most recognizable name on the Tour, Sorenstam was among 13 players who qualified for the event via the second half ADT Points list, despite missing most of the 2007 with ruptured and bulging discs in her neck.

Ochoa, who made the round of 16 with a 4-under 140 through 36 holes, is the natural favorite to claim the largest purse in Tour history.

Already having locked up the LPGA money title for a second straight year, Ochoa has seven wins this year and earnings of $3.3 million.