By Ken Klavon, USGA

Cherry Hills Village, Colo. – Maybe the amateurs aren’t as naïve as people think. Maybe they can play after all.

Heading into Sunday’s final round at the U.S. Women’s Open, teenagers Morgan Pressel and Michelle Wie, along with 2004 British Women’s Open champion Karen Stupples, were log-jammed at the top of the leaderboard with 1-over 214s. They held a one-shot advantage over Paula Creamer, Young Jo and Birdie Kim.

Karen Stupples, last year's British Women's Open champion, had six consecutive birdies in her third round. (Sam Greenwood/USGA)

Meanwhile, Annika Sorenstam jeopardized her attempt at the Grand Slam after she shot 2-over 73 Saturday to stand at 6-over 219 and five shots out of the lead.

"My plan?" said Sorenstam. "Obviously I have got 18 more holes to play and I’m going to give it my all. This is a chance I am not going to give up. I’m going to fight to the end."

If history means anything, Sorenstam isn’t out of it. In the 1960 U.S. Open, Arnold Palmer erased a seven-stroke lead on the final day at Cherry Hills to win. And she’s the most recent of six players to hold the record for largest comeback at a Women’s Open. In 1995 at The Broadmoor Golf Club, she erased a five-stroke deficit to win her first of two Open titles.

The more fascinating story, however, may be the teenagers trying to exorcise the ghost of Catherine Lacoste, the 1967 champion. Lacoste is the only amateur to ever win the event. The last amateur to come close was in 1998 when amateur Jenny Chuasiriporn took Se Ri Pak into a playoff before losing.

Both the 17-year-old Pressel and Wie, 15, were aware of Lacoste’s legacy. Wie, though, said she only found out recently after seeing a trivia question on television. What they may not know is that they are both vying to become the youngest winner of a major in a women’s or men’s event. Johnny McDermott, at 19 years and 10 months, won the 1911 U.S. Open and is the youngest. After winning the 1968 LPGA Championship at 20 years and 19 days, Sandra Post still holds the distinction as the youngest female.

That aside, both have the pedigree to win their first major even if one is feisty and the other unflappable. Pressel wasn’t kidding when she first announced Monday that she thought she could win.

"I am here to win," said the spirited Pressel, after carding a 1-under 70 round on the 6,749-yard, par-71, Cherry Hills Country Club layout. "Second or third doesn’t matter."

Said Wie (1-over 72) of perhaps becoming the youngest to win a major: "I think it would be really cool if that happened. But I haven’t really thought about that, and if I think about that tomorrow I will put too much pressure on myself."

The floodgates opened on ‘moving’ day after third-round leader Nicole Perrot double-bogeyed her first hole, missing a 2-footer. Perrot had entered the round with a modest two-stroke lead on Lorena Ochoa and Wie. Creamer (1-over 72) tilted the championship in her favor early by birdieing the fifth and sixth holes to go 1 under, but soon toppled out of first.

In the meantime Stupples went birdie crazy, chalking up six consecutive from holes nine through 14. It equaled the most birdies in a row on tour this year. The streak pushed her into a tie for the lead when she had completed her 14^th hole. She couldn’t remember ever doing anything similar.

"To do it so many holes in a row kind of felt a bit unreal really," said Stupples, who shot 2-under 69. Her birdie run ascended her into a sixth-place tie for most (11) in the championship.

Morgan Pressel remained focused Saturday, firing a 1-under 70. (Sam Greenwood/USGA)

Wie hung tough despite bogeying two of her first four holes and striking just half her greens in regulation. Again she opted to leave the driver in the bag most of the round, calling upon it three times. (Through three rounds she’s hit driver seven times). Fortunately it worked in her favor on No. 11, an uphill bumpy par 5 measuring 522 yards. She admitted later she went for distance based on the right-side hole location. It was well-played strategy as she eventually chipped to 6 feet and converted the putt for birdie. It put her into a four-way tie for the lead at even par. Two holes later she was the outright leader.

That was short-lived, however, when she registered bogey on No. 16. A chip out of the right greenside rough left her with a 25-foot putt for par. She couldn’t save it. Wie had a chance on the 18^th to go into Sunday as the sole leader, but her 20-foot putt stopped a foot short of the hole. Presssel, who had been near the clubhouse, started jumping up and down when told that Wie’s miss meant she’d share the lead.

"It does sound good," she said. "I like that.

"It’s so exciting. Come here to win, now that I’m in a great position going into tomorrow."

Most of the reason why could be traced to her consistency. Since her first-round, in which she shot 4-under on her front nine only to struggle in with even par and tears, Pressel has channeled her emotions.

Pressel didn’t waver Saturday, birdieing the par-5 11^th and finishing out with seven straight pars. She nearly made eagle on No. 11 when her approach shot ran an inch by the lip. "I actually thought it was in the hole. I was shocked when I saw it wasn’t," she said.

Yet a 5-foot putt birdie on No. 7 got her going, she said. Pressel, tied with four others with the most birdies, has 12 through three rounds.

If any of the leaders should falter Sunday 18-year-old Creamer, Jo and Kim are waiting in the weeds. Koreans Jo (1-under 70) and Kim (2-under 69) gently eased their way up the scoreboard when all eyes were focusing on Stupples and the young hot shots. Jo, 21, had birdies on her final two holes and the 23-year-old Kim, playing in her first Open, birdied holes 10 and 11 before registering seven straight pars. With all the Kims on the LPGA Tour, chose Birdie as a first name so people could differentiate, she said.

Lest anyone believe that the 32-year-old Stupples is the front-runner of the three to win based on age, that theory may not fly. She cited that Pressel and Wie probably have played in as many Opens as she has (this is her fourth). Pressel and Wie are playing in their third. Still, she wouldn’t take the bait.

"One more year’s worth of experience I suppose," said Stupples.

In any event, if Pressel and Wie have their way, they’ll do their utmost to silence those who wonder whether they feel they have a realistic shot to win at such a young age.

"I am kind of baffled at the question," said Pressel, the top-ranked junior in the country. "I have played a lot of events. I know how to play golf and people look at my age as something that should set me back, but I don’t think it does."

Wie, the runner-up in the last women’s major, also pooh-poohed the notion that teenagers aren’t supposed to win grown-up events like this.

"When I am out there on the golf course I completely forget my age," she said. "I don’t think anyone really remembers their age … so out on the golf course I am a golfer, trying my best. I don’t think, ‘Oh, I am playing good for a 15-year-old."