So when her 7-iron from 153 yards settled 2 feet behind the hole, instincts took over.

The brash, bullish Californian charged toward her caddie, leaped and spun and collided for an football-style body bump. It was an unusual celebration that seemed to fit right in with this most unusual golf tournament.

Her pro-am partners did that throughout their round Wednesday, and told her to do it on the 18th hole during the tournament.

"The moment was right," Kim said.

Her timing could not have been better. Kim's shot, followed by Nicole Castrale hitting into the water on the 18th for the second time, gave her the eighth and final spot in the final round tomorrow for an 18-hole shootout with $1 million going to the winner.

As if they needed additional pressure, the LPGA Tour placed $1 million cash — or what looked like it, anyway — in a glass case with a big lock and big bodyguard nearby, a reminder of what's at stake.

"I'm not Rain Man, so I wasn't able to calculate whether it was actually $1 million," Kim said. "You always see in the movies they've got the $1 million, and it's a very think briefcase. I don't know. Maybe there's just a lot of air packed in there. It's awesome."

Seven others must feel the same way.

Lorena Ochoa continued to play nearly flawless golf in posting a bogey-free round of 6-under 66, joined atop the leaderboard by Paula Creamer, who holed out a wedge for eagle on the 15th hole.

Karrie Webb, whose 50-foot birdie putt on the 18th hole Friday enabled her to avoid a playoff, made it easy on herself in the third round by racing out to five birdies in 12 holes and shooting 68. The other qualifiers were U.S. Women's Open champion Cristie Kerr, Natalie Gulbis, Sarah Lee and Mi Hyun Kim, who had the best turnaround of all.

Mi Hyun Kim was at 5 under with five holes to play and still in good shape after bogeys at the 14th and 16th. But she caught a plugged lie in the bunker on the 18th that led to double bogey, and minutes later, she was in a 4-for-2 playoff starting on the 17th tee.

One swing changed everything.

Kim hit a hybrid 5-iron to 7 feet for birdie to earn a spot in the final round.

"I feel so sad after that," she said of her double bogey. "Anyway, I made it. Scores are zero tomorrow."

Just like the third round, the scores will be wiped out for the final 18 holes, where the winner gets $1 million and second place gets $100,000, the biggest disparity of prize money in golf.

"It's all or nothing," Creamer said.

But there were plenty of players who felt like nothing when they left Trump International.

Sophie Gustafson endured a roller-coaster round in which she followed two bogeys by driving the par-4 sixth green and chipping in for eagle, running off four straight birdies to get safe, then finishing double bogey-bogey to fall into the playoff at 1-under 71.

Her tee shot went through the green and into the stream to the left, and she was out.

Juli Inkster never even got that chance. She was on top of her game for the front nine, when she went out in 32. But a three-putt bogey on the 13th started her fall. She took bogey on the 16th, then hit into the water with a 7-iron and made double bogey and finished one shot out of the playoff.

"The story of my year," Inkster said. "Whenever I need a good shot, I hit the ball to the right."

Castrale was at 2 under and thought she would need birdie to secure a spot in the final round, but her 8-iron went into the water and she did well to get up and down for bogey and a 71. As she fought back tears, she learned that Gustafson had made bogey on the 18th from an awful lie in the bunker, meaning four players finished at 71 for two spots in the final eight.

"I've still got a chance," she said.

But it lasted only two holes, with Christina Kim hitting a clutch shot and delivering a celebration rarely seen in golf.

In another unusual twist to this event, the final eight players were allowed to pick their starting times for Sunday in order of how they finished. Ochoa went first and took the final group, where she will play with Gulbis. Creamer and Mi Hyun Kim will be in the third group, preceded by Webb and Lee. Christina Kim and Kerr will be first out.

If this had been a regular tournament, Ochoa would be at 10 under and leading Creamer by one shot.

Before the playoff determined the final eight, players were asked where they would want to play. Ochoa was the only player who wanted the final group, perhaps a sign of her confidence.

"I feel like I have a better chance," Ochoa said, comparing this with last year when she struggled to get into the final round. "I feel solid. This is giving me confidence."

Kerr and Gulbis, meanwhile, are just happy to be here. They were in Las Vegas on Monday for the Wendy's Three-Tour Challenge, but their charter was late leaving because there was no food on board, and by the time they grabbed something to eat inside the airport, a warming light had come on because of problems with the pressurization system.

"Had that plane taken off, who knows what would have happened?" Kerr said. "So we were very lucky we didn't take off."