Suzann Pettersen, 3-time runner-up, tied for third at Kraft Nabisco

RANCHO MIRAGE -- Suzann Pettersen, who runs turns 32 on Sunday, is tied for third midway through the third round of the Kraft Nabisco Championship, the LPGA’s first major of the season.

Pettersen has been runner-up in this event three times but has never won it. She’s a six-time member of the European Solheim Cup team and has a one major title, the LPGA Championship. Pettersen, of Norway, finished her round of five-under 67 with birdies on the last four holes.

“I played really solid today,” Pettersen said. “I only had one bogey, a three-putt on the eighth hole. It was a lot of internal hard work to keep myself in it and when the putt dropped on 15, I said to myself, ‘Try and get one or two more.’ I’ve given myself a chance for tomorrow.”

Pettersen said she doesn’t feel extra pressure because she’s come so close to winning here.

“All I can take from being second so much is that it’s a course I like,” she said. “I like what I see, I like the challenges. The course is set up really nicely.”

So far in the third round, Inbee Park has fashioned a three-shot lead. Former USC star Lizette Salas, playing with Park, is three behind in second place.

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