Hutchinson ? Give Annika Sorenstam a final-round lead, and a tournament is usually as good as over.

This time around, however, one of the women chasing Sorenstam has a long history of coming from behind.

Sorenstam fired a 1-under-par 69 on Saturday at Prairie Dunes Country Club and claimed a two-stroke lead over Americans Juli Inkster and Jill McGill heading into today’s final round of the U.S. Women’s Open.

“I’m very happy with the way I played,” said Sorenstam, who has won three of four events this year when leading in the final round and 23 of 38 in her career. “I hit every fairway, and I hit a lot of greens as well.”

Actually, the Swede hit 13 of 14 fairways and 15 of 18 greens in regulation. Sorenstam, 31, had three birdies and two bogeys.

“The pins are very tough,” said Sorenstam, whose three-round total of 208 is 2-under par. “It’s very undulating greens. The closer you can be, obviously the easier it will be. I stayed out of trouble all day.”

Inkster did not.

The Hall of Famer, who shared the first-round lead with fellow American Laura Diaz and Australia’s Shani Waugh and the second-round lead with Diaz and Sorenstam, struggled with her driver once again.

She ranks second in the tournament in putting, averaging 26.6 putts per round, but she ranks 63rd out of 69 golfers in fairways hit at 64 percent.

Don’t count Inkster out, though. More than half of her LPGA victories  15 of 27  have been the come-from-behind variety.

“I definitely have to play better tomorrow because Annika is not going to make any mistakes, and I’m going to have to play a good, solid round,” she said.

Inkster has won majors before when her swing wasn’t up to par. She “didn’t hit the ball well at all” in 2000 when she defended her title in the LPGA Championship.

The six-time major champion forced a three-way tie with Sorenstam and McGill with a birdie on No. 14 Saturday, but Sorenstam birdied No. 16 and closed with two pars while Inkster and McGill both bogeyed No. 18.

Inkster won the 1980 U.S. Women’s Amateur at the Dunes and is an honorary member of the club. She said the gallery would be quick to support her if she could make a run at Sorenstam.

Officials said 20,951 fans attended Saturday’s second round, bringing the week-long total 80,499.

“I do get the sense the crowd is behind me,” she said, “and you always want to play good for them. It would be awesome. Hopefully, I can give them something to cheer about.”

Inkster, the 1999 Open champion, is the only American to win the event in the last seven years.

“I’m prejudiced, but I think it would be great,” Inkster said of the prospect of having an American champion. “July 4th weekend and you’re here in Kansas in the Midwest, and I think it would be awesome, but I’ve got to go out and play a good 18 holes to do that.”

Inkster isn’t the only American in contention. McGill matched Sorenstam with a 69  two of only seven rounds under par on Saturday  and tied Inkster at even-par 210. The 30-year-old has never won in seven years on the LPGA Tour.

Waugh, like McGill, joined the tour in 1996 and also is seeking her first LPGA victory. The 32-year-old Aussie also bogeyed No. 18, a 382-yard par-4 that ranked as the 12th-hardest hole in the third round. She finished alone at 1-over-par 211.

“I’m a little disappointed to be over par,” said Waugh, who hit 13 of 14 fairways. “But I get a chance tomorrow, and that’s all I was asking myself to do today.”

American Michele Redman finished the day at 213 after a round of 73, which included an eagle on the par-4 ninth hole.

Scotland’s Janice Moodie was another stroke back after a 71.

Sweden’s Carin Koch topped a group of three players at 215.

Diaz had eight bogeys in a round of 77 that dropped her to 216.

The best rounds of day  a pair of 68s  were posted by England’s Laura Davies and Korea’s Se Ri Pak on a day when the top wind gust was 17 mph but temperatures reached 92 degrees and the heat index was 106. Davies barely made the cut Friday at 148. She climbed into a tie for 10th place Saturday and finished in a group of seven at 216. Pak, who was tied for 69th at 149 on Friday, was in a group of seven at 217.

“Anything can happen here,” said Sorenstam, who won back-to-back Opens in 1995 and 1996 and has won six events this year. “Hitting it in the rough, who knows what kind of lie you’re going to have. My game plan is to hit every fairway and green and not worry about anything else.”