RICHMOND, Texas — Lorena Ochoa and Jiyai Shin will settle their duel for LPGA Tour player of the year on the final, frantic day of the season.

Kristy McPherson finished off a 5-under 67 in fading sunlight yesterday to move to 8 under and take the lead in the LPGA Tour Championship before the second round was suspended because of darkness.

Shin was one stroke back with two holes to play in her second round; Ochoa was two back with one hole left. Players will resume the second round this morning, and the top 70 and ties will immediately begin the final round.

For Ochoa to win her fourth straight player of the year title, she must win or finish no worse than third and then hope Shin places out of the top 10. The two are also decimal points apart in the race for the Vare Trophy, awarded for the season's lowest scoring average.

"Tomorrow, everything will be answered," Ochoa said. "I am very excited, yes."

Shin is trying to become the first player since Nancy Lopez in 1978 to sweep the money title, rookie and player of the year and the Vare Trophy.

"I have a good shot at it," Shin said. "It's going to be very close. It will be the most important day of my life."

McPherson, 28, is just looking for her first LPGA Tour victory. She picked up five birdies without a bogey in her second round of the rain-battered tournament.

She was one of the few players who completed two rounds without interruption.

ELSEWHERE

Dubai World: Lee Westwood of England became Europe'sNo. 1 golfer after winning the Dubai World Championship by six strokes at Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Westwood shot a course-record 8-under 64 at the Earth Course to finish at 23-under 265, outdistancing runner-up Ross McGowan (68). Westwood won $1.25 million, and a $1.5 million bonus for finishing atop the money list took his total European Tour earnings to $6,376,984. Northern Ireland's Rory McIlroy was next with $5,432,358.

Pebble Beach: Mark Brooks won the Callaway Golf Pebble Beach Invitational for a record third time, birdieing three of the last four holes for a 5-under 67 and a two-shot win over Rickie Fowler and D.A. Points at Pebble Beach, Calif. Brooks shot 12-under 276 and became the first three-time winner of the unofficial event in its 38-year history.

Dunlop Phoenix: Italy's Edoardo Molinari birdied the second playoff hole to beat Sweden's Robert Karlsson at the Dunlop Phoenix in Miyazaki, Japan. Molinari (66) and Karlsson (65) each finished at 13-under 271.