Charging Pettersen posts lowest round at Mission Hills

By Mark Lamport-Stokes

RANCHO MIRAGE, California (Reuters) - Norway's Suzann Pettersen made the biggest move at the Kraft Nabisco Championship, storming into a tie for ninth place with a sparkling seven-under-par 65 in Saturday's third round.

The 26-year-old Norwegian, who narrowly made the cut the previous day, holed out with a six-iron from 158 yards to eagle the par-four seventh before finishing at two-under 214, well before the tournament pacesetters were due to tee off.

At the end of a blustery afternoon at Mission Hills Country Club, she was just four shots off the lead held by Mexican world number one Lorena Ochoa.

Pettersen, who struggled on the greens during her opening 74 and 75, finally got the putts to drop in a flawless display which also featured five birdies.

"Today was what I have been trying to do for the last two days," she told reporters after rocketing from 62nd place overnight with the lowest round of the week.

"I have played myself back into the tournament. Seven under is pretty good on a Saturday in a major so I'm right there. I just tried to play my game, make some birdies and try to make a move.

"I hardly made a mistake...and it helps when the putts go in the hole. The first two days I had 34, 35 putts. Today I had 27."

Asked if she had a target in mind when she began the round, Pettersen replied: "I tried to get back to level (par).