CLIFTON, N.J. — Instead of backing down against the No. 1 player in women's golf, Sarah Lee went birdie for birdie with Lorena Ochoa — and got the best of her.
Lee, a 28-year-old South Korean, will have to do it again today if she wants to win her first LPGA Tour title.
Lee shot a nearly flawless 7-under 65 Saturday to open a two-shot lead over Ochoa after three rounds in the $1.4 million Sybase Classic, a tournament that has seemingly been reduced to a two-player race.
No one else is even close to the leaders.
"I'm really excited to play with Lorena Ochoa," said Lee, whose previous best finish was a second in 2004. "She's the No. 1 LPGA player and I really enjoyed it today."
It was fun to watch, too. Lee and Ochoa combined for 13 birdies, an eagle and three bogeys, or a combined 12 under on a cold, rainy day when the average score at the par-72 Upper Montclair Country Club was 73.648.
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"It was fun to be out there," said Ochoa, looking for her first win since supplanting Annika Sorenstam for the top spot in the rankings last month. "At the start, she was hitting closer and making birdies, and then I hit it closer and made birdie. It was fun to be in that last group."
Lee and Ochoa will be in the last pairing again, and one of them likely will be the winner.
Lee, who has either led or shared the lead for the first three rounds, was at 16-under 200, the low 54-hole score on the tour this year. Ochoa was 14 under after her second straight 67.
Sherri Steinhauer, Kate Golden and Young Jo were seven shots back.
Ochoa, who has a win and seven top-10 finishes in nine events this year, was impressed while playing with Lee, who had eight birdies and a bogey.
Lee also was more aggressive than last week, when she went into the third round of the Michelob Ultra Classic with the two-shot lead and lost it. She had rounds of 72 and 74 over the final 36 holes to finish third.
Tied at 9 under and playing in the final group, Lee and Ochoa quickly distanced themselves from the field.
Lee birdied four of her first six holes — and lost ground. Ochoa one-upped her with three birdies and an 8-foot eagle putt at the par-5 fifth hole.
Lee eventually took the lead for good with a 4-foot birdie putt at No. 10 and a two-putt birdie from 24 feet on the par-5 11th.
When Ochoa, the winner last year at Wykagyl in Rochelle, N.Y., birdied the 13th from 10 feet to seemingly cut the lead to a stroke, Lee answered with a 7-footer for birdie.
Ochoa fell three shots back after hitting a tee shot into the bunker on the par-3 15th hole, but Lee made her only costly mistake of the round when she missed the fairway to the right on the relatively straight 16th hole. She chipped to 7 feet while hitting from an awkward stance on the edge of a bunker, but she missed the 7-foot par-saver.
Lee and Ochoa said they do not plan to have a match play approach to the final round. But both plan to be aggressive.
"I know that it's going to take a low round to win the tournament," Ochoa said.