On the face of it, Stupples should be the red-hot favourite, but the reality is that she will be the one who is under pressure today. Pressel and Wie have been groomed for success and will be unburdened by the weight of expectation that is bound to affect Stupples.
All eyes will be on Wie, who will make history if she wins today. She would be the youngest ever winner of the most prestigious prize in the game but, even more astonishingly, it will be her first victory on the LPGA Tour. And all this while she is still an amateur, and not eligible to collect any prize-money.
She has made it clear that her real ambition is to play in, and win, one of the men’s majors, but first things first.
For Sorenstam, the dream is surely over for another year. Such is her dominance of women’s golf that she could miss the cut in every tournament she plays for the next 12 months and she would probably still hang on to her world No 1 ranking.
But the Swede, who has won the first two legs of the Grand Slam, has proved that she is an ordinary mortal with a performance that has been below par in every respect, bar the one that matters most to her. Having opened with a level-par 71, she stumbled to a second-round 75 and, six shots off the lead, knew that she required something special yesterday if she was to get back into contention and have a chance of winning all four of the major prizes in women’s golf in one year — a feat nobody has ever achieved.
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Instead, she could only manage a two over par round of 73, with most of the damage being done on the front nine, where she recorded a bogey and a double-bogey. She is five behind the leaders and will have to produce something extraordinary, even by her own remarkable standards.
While the leaders will be largely concentrating on their own performances today, they will also probably be looking over their shoulders to follow the progress of yet another teenage sensation — Paula Creamer, who is just 18, has made a wonderful start to her professional career, having already won on the LPGA Tour this season. She is a fearless player, capable of incredible bursts of scoring, and she will expect to be in contention when the serious business gets under way on the back nine. She had four birdies yesterday on her way to a 72, but also dropped five shots.
It has been a mixed week for British golfers. Catriona Matthew and Jo Head will play all four rounds, but Laura Davies, who arrived in Denver believing she had a genuine chance of winning, recorded rounds of 84 and 81 and was left packing her bags for home.
Final round, today, Sky Sports 2, 11.30pm