Change a Good Thing for Sheehan, Burton

RANCHO MIRAGE, Calif. â€”  Patty Sheehan has changed the shafts of her golf clubs so many times this year, the glue never had a chance to dry.

Brandie Burton has changed her swing, her stance, her posture, her putting stroke, her mental outlook and just about everything else she sees around the house. Her dog probably isn’t feeling too comfortable right now.

Sheehan, who has stuck six different sets of shafts on her irons this year, begins today’s final round of the Nabisco Dinah Shore tied for the lead with Burton, who is learning to trust her revamped swing.

Sheehan and Burton share a one-shot lead at six-under-par 210 as the chase for the year’s first major title gets serious at Mission Hills, which we know can be a tough track.

“It can come up and bite you at any second,� said Burton, who had a 68 Saturday.

Maybe she’s right. Count Annika Sorenstam among those with teeth marks. Sorenstam was tied for the lead at No. 18 until she sent her third shot into the lake in front of the green.

She wound up with a double bogey and dropped into a six-way tie for fourth place at four-under 212, one shot behind Martha Nause.

Sorenstam finds herself in a formidable group that also includes Laura Davies, Meg Mallon, Karrie Webb, Tracy Hanson and Amy Fruhwirth.

Davies pulled herself into contention by scoring an eagle on the 508-yard par-5 18th with an obvious power play. She reached the green in two, then rolled in a 12-footer.

Sheehan shot a 67 and said afterward that she has reached the 18th in two shots before.

“In my dreams,� Sheehan said.

With 12 players within four shots of the leaders, it’s going to be sort of a crowded sprint to the finish today.

Of course, Sheehan has been here before. She has won 63 times, has five major championships in her 17-year Hall of Fame career and has at least one tournament victory every year since 1981 except one.

Sheehan said she knows how she will feel today.

“I’m going to be just a nervous wreck,� she said.

That’s just the opposite of how Sheehan felt Saturday when she couldn’t remember hitting the ball any better this year and couldn’t remember feeling more relaxed.

She just didn’t know why.

“I can’t pinpoint it,� Sheehan said. “Maybe I said to myself ‘Don’t try so hard, just go out and play.’ �

It certainly was a good philosophy in the third round. Sheehan didn’t have a bogey, made five birdies in a span of six holes on the back and didn’t feel like changing her shafts back to graphite from steel.

The reason she changed to graphite in the first place was because she had tendinitis in her elbows.

Sheehan made a 10-foot birdie putt on No. 10 and a 25-footer on No. 11, which put her three strokes from the lead. She made a five-footer at No. 12, a two-footer at No. 14 and a 12-footer at No. 15 to share the lead.

Burton has one major title to her credit, the 1993 du Maurier, but there’s no event she would rather win than this one.

“It’s the biggest dream of my life since I was 9 years old,� said Burton, who was born in San Bernardino and lives in Rialto. “My mom used to take me out of school to stand behind the ropes and watch.�

Burton was two under for the day when she got to No. 15. That’s where she knocked a sand wedge to 40 feet and made the putt for birdie. On the par-3 17th, she made a 25-footer for a birdie that tied her with Sorenstam and Sheehan.