SOUTHPORT, England — Jeong Jang has played with Annika Sorenstam before — but never with this much at stake.

The South Korean will be paired with Sorenstam for the final round of the Women's British Open today, as she tries to protect a five-stroke lead and win the first tournament of her six-year LPGA career.

Honolulu's Michelle Wie, who is six shots behind Jang, was to tee off at 2:55 a.m., Hawai'i time, today.

"I am going to be nervous but not because of being with Annika, just being the leader," said Jang, who shot a 3-under 69 yesterday to move to 13-under 203 for the tournament at Royal Birkdale. "I will think about my golf, not think about Annika."

But, like it or not, Sorenstam will be there, and she'll be trying for her third major title of the year and 10th overall. She made sure of that by shooting a third-round 66 and pulling into a tie for second with Cristie Kerr (69) at 8 under.

Behind Sorenstam and Kerr are five players at 7-under 209. One of them is Wie, the 15-year-old amateur who is playing her last tournament before returning to high school.

She posted her second 67 in a row after opening with a 75 in the wind and rain Thursday.

"I could have been a lot better but I'm happy with the way my score came out," said Wie, who had six birdies. "I felt really good with my iron shots today. I just couldn't putt."

Wie had eagle chances on Nos. 15 and 18, both par 5s, yesterday. On the 499-yard 15th, she hit a 3-iron to within 50 feet, and two-putted. On No. 18, a 427-yard hole, she again used a 3-iron to get within 12 feet, but two-putted once again.

"I just felt really good with my iron shots and stuff like that," Wie said.

The Honolulu teenager was still a bit down on her putting.

"It's a little frustrating because I could have played a lot better," she said. "I mean, the longest putt I made today was 9 feet. I mean compared to the way I hit the ball, I should have shot a lot better, but I'm still very happy with the way my score is."

Sorenstam was also pleased with her showing yesterday and about her chances heading into today's final round.

"We will see what happens," said the Swede, who hasn't had a bogey since the 13th hole in the opening round. "There's a lot of golf holes out there left to be played and birdie opportunities. I am very happy with my round today and it was my best golf of the week."

Sorenstam and Jang were paired together at the ShopRite LPGA Classic in June.

"Annika won that event," Jang said. "I finished tied for fifth."

Jang, who began the day with a four-stroke lead, provided a few chances for those chasing her to make up some ground. She bogeyed the opening hole before recovering with five birdies. She just missed another birdie on the 18th when her 10-foot putt stopped inches short of the cup.

She has the best score through 54 holes since the tournament became a major five years ago.

Tied with Wie are Paula Creamer, the winner of last week's Evian Masters who had seven birdies in a flawless 65, Liselotte Neumann (68) and 2000 British Open champion Sophie Gustafson (67) of Sweden and another Korean, Young Kim (67).

With the sun shining for the first time and fans and players wearing short-sleeve shirts, there was some spectacular scoring by players far out of the lead.

Becky Brewerton, who started out tied for 29th, birdied three of the last four holes for a 7-under 65.

Kris Tschetter, who began the day tied for 41st, covered the back nine in just 29 strokes, finishing eagle, birdie, birdie, eagle.

Laura Davies, winner of four majors and 66 career titles, finished birdie, eagle, eagle for a 66 to move to 4 under. On Friday, she birdied the final three holes en route to a 70.

Kerr, seeking her first major and fifth career title, shot a 69 despite bogeys at the first two holes. She didn't drop another shot while making five birdies to stay in the hunt.

"There's a lot of people chasing her and she's looking for her first tournament win so we're all behind her trying to catch her," Kerr said. "The pressure of being in the final major of the year, never to have won, you can always have those doubts in your head that you're going to win."

LPGA.com also contributed to this report.