Patrick Reusse: Ochoa can't find game that's made her great

There were 74 survivors for Saturday's third round of the U.S. Women's Open, and several made a large mistake. They trusted us. They trusted that the heat and humidity encountered for several days indicated that summer was entrenched in Minnesota.

Sydnee Michaels, an amateur from Temecula, Calif., showed up in her warm-weather finest -- a very short skirt and short sleeves. When encountered on her 12th hole of the day, Michaels looked as if she was a candidate for hypothermia.

We fooled 'em again, didn't we?

Interlachen was a sauna before the thunderstorm delay late Friday afternoon. There was another spate of ugly weather late Saturday morning and, presto, a cool wind came rolling in from the west, leaving the athletes either to shiver in their skirts and sleeves or to turn into quick-change artists.

Lorena Ochoa, the world's No. 1 player, was in and out of her rain suit a handful of times -- long pants and jacket on, long pants off, long pants on, jacket off.

Ochoa was 1 over par and seven shots from the lead when the third round started. It was clear that getting 2 or 3 under par for the tournament was required for her to have a chance at a comeback victory today.

"I tried, but obviously the way I started didn't help," she said. "I was 4 over after four holes. So, it was just hard trying to come back all day and try to save pars. Just a very long day. ... I didn't enjoy it all."

Interlachen is being played with five par-5s, and that was supposed to be an advantage for the ball-mashing Ochoa. She's only 2 under on those 15 chances -- way below what was anticipated, including by her.

Asked about her mediocrity on the par-5s, Ochoa said: "Everything has been a problem this week for me. Frankly, I'm not picking up anything on the par-5s, but I'm also having a bad week on the greens. That's usually a bad combination."

Ochoa said during the practice rounds that she saw Interlachen as a course that suited her talents. Three days of failing to break par didn't change her opinion.

"I think that this course does fit my game," she said. "It's just sad that I didn't take advantage of my opportunities. It's sad to see the tournament go, and now I have to wait one more year."

The idea that there was no momentum for Ochoa to find seemed to become apparent on the par-5 third. This was her 12th hole of the day, and she still was sitting at 4 over.

There was a backup on the par-3 fourth. A cold wind was headed directly into the golfers.

Ochoa walked around the tee area, then reached into her bag and put on rain pants. She waited another minute and put on a rain jacket.

Asked about all her wardrobe changes, Ochoa said later: "I broke a record. I'm tired."

Eventually, Ochoa hit a spectacular 5-iron shot just behind the flag and made a birdie putt. The gallery cheered wildly, and Lorena raised her arms in mock celebration. And then she followed with a bogey.

It was that kind of day. She's now 0-for-3 in three days against an Interlachen track that has been beatable for others.

"I'm not going to blame my score on any of those things ... not at all," Ochoa said. "But mentally, I'm a little bit weak. It seems that I've just had nothing going this week."