Lorena Ochoa said her own little goodbye to Annika Sorenstam.

The two-time defending champion shot a 5-under 67 and left the retiring Sorenstam in her wake after two rounds of the rain-shorted Sybase Classic on Saturday at Clifton, N.J.

Ochoa will enter today's final round of the now 54-hole tournament with a 9-under 135 total and a two-shot lead over third-year tour player Teresa Lu and veteran Sophie Gustafson. South Koreans H.J. Choi and Na Yeon Choi — no relation — are three behind.

Brittany Lang was four back and Sorenstam, who announced Tuesday that this would be her final year on the LPGA Tour, was five behind after a 1-over 73 that included a double bogey after hitting a tree on a par 5, and a bogey on her final hole.

Ochoa, seeking her sixth win of the year, has won 16 of 23 LPGA events in which she has taken the lead into the final round, including all five this year and six in a row dating to last year.

After Friday's round was washed out by steady rain, Ochoa showed she was more than ready for the challenge at the traditional Upper Montclair Country Club.

Ochoa made six birdies and a bogey in a round in which she was 3 under on four par 5s, making three two-putt birdies. She vaulted into the lead by closing her front nine — Nos. 16, 17 and 18 — with birdies from 12 and 20 feet and a two-putt from 40 feet.

Sorenstam had three birdies, two bogeys and a double bogey after playing a 5-under round Thursday that had no bogeys.

"It was small mistakes that turned into big ones," said Sorenstam, who said her club was too open on the second shot from the right rough on the par-5 18th that bounced off a tree. "I am not going to make a big deal of it. I played very well today."

Howell overtakes Perry at AT&T Classic: Charles Howell III shot a 5-under 67 to take a one-stroke lead over Kenny Perry after the third round of the AT&T Classic at Duluth, Ga.

An Augusta, Ga., native seeking his third PGA Tour victory and first since the 2007 Nissan Open, Howell had a 13-under 203 total at TPC Sugarloaf.

Perry shot a 69. David Toms (69), Ryan Palmer (70) and second-round leader Jonathan Byrd (73) were two strokes back at 11 under.

Ryuji Imada, second to Zach Johnson in playoff last year, shot a 66 to tie Heath Slocum (69) for sixth and move within three shots of the lead.

Late birdie gives Bean one-shot lead: Andy Bean birdied the final hole to take a one-shot lead over Mike Goodes into the final round of the Champions Tour's Regions Charity Classic at Hoover, Ala.

Bean capped a second-round 68 with a 15-foot birdie putt on the 7,356-yard Ross Bridge course on the Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail, moving to 11 under.

Goodes shot a 69. Loren Roberts and Denis Watson were two strokes behind after closing the gap with matching 66s. Leading money winner Bernhard Langer bogeyed the final hole for a 71 and was five shots off the lead, while two-time defending champion Brad Bryant (70) was nine shots behind.

Dredge leads Irish Open: Wales' Bradley Dredge shot a 6-under 66 to take a one-stroke lead over England's Richard Finch after the third round of the Irish Open at Adare, Ireland.

Dredge, who lost to Padraig Harrington in a playoff last year at Adare Manor, had a 9-under 207 total.

Finch, the New Zealand Open winner in December, shot a 65.

England's Lee Westwood was two strokes back after a tournament-best 64.