Rio Grande, Puerto Rico (22 October) – Canada withstood a surge by Sweden and held a two-stroke lead at 7-under-par 425 after three rounds of the 2004 Women's World Amateur Team Championship at Rio Mar Country Club

Sofie Andersson of Sweden posted a 71 for her team, which stands in second place. (John Mummert/USGA)

Sweden stood at 5-under-par 427 and the USA trailed by five strokes at 2-under-par 430. All three of those teams were playing in the same groups on the River Course.

"It wasn't an easy day,” said Jackie Little, the Canadian captain. “They hung in there.”

Play was suspended at 1:20 p.m. because of dangerous weather and was resumed at 4:10 p.m.

Mary Ann Lapointe and Laura Matthews registered the counting scores for the leaders, with a 1-under-par 71 and an even par 72, respectively.

In pursuit of their first Espirito Santo Trophy, the Canadian team is attempting to become the first start-to-finish winner since the USA in 1996.

"It's always the preferable spot,” Little said of holding the lead. “We've just got to keep doing it."

Lindsay Knowlton of Canada summed up the team's mindset, saying: “You can't ask for anything more than to be leading a world championship.”

Matthews, who was a member of the winning team at the 2003 Copa de las Americas at Rio Mar, thought the steady play of her team factored heavily in their lead.

"All three of our players are consistent players,” said Matthews, the assistant women's golf coach at the University of Georgia . “That's one of our strengths.”

At one point, both Canada and Sweden had moved to 9-under-par for the championship. All contending teams will play their final round on the Ocean Course.

The Swedish team posted 1-under par 71s from 2004 NCAA runner-up Karin Sjodin and Sofie Andersson .

Paula Creamer of USA recovers from a bunker. (John Mummert/USGA)

Their captain Birgitta Ljung was confident about the final round. “We have an advantage on the Ocean Course because all three of our players are long,” she said. “We are looking forward to it.”

The USA remained in third place but continued to struggle on the greens, shooting even par 144 with Paula Creamer's 71 and a 73 from reigning U.S. Women's Amateur champion Jane Park.

The USA attitude was summed up by Paula Creamer: “Now we are getting sick of missing putts. We can go for every single pin we can, I know I will.”

Japan and Germany posted 5-under-par 139 totals to make significant moves. Japan jumped from seventh to fifth at 432. The Germans, led by Sandra Gal 's 5-under-par 67, rallied from a tie for 11 th into seventh position at 435. Those team totals also ties a championship mark for low third round.

Julieta Granada, 17, of Paraguay , the 2004 U.S. Girls' Junior champion, fired the lowest round ever in the championship's history: a bogey-free 9-under-par 63.

Colombia stood in fourth place at 432 followed by Japan in fifth, Korea in sixth at 434, Germany in seventh, Chinese Taipei in eighth at 436, Spain in ninth at 438 and Russian Federation in 10 th at 444. Defending champion Australia was in 20 th position at 448.

For complete results, visit www.internationalgolffederation.org and click on the Golfstat icon.

Conducted by the International Golf Federation, which comprises national governing bodies of golf in more than 100 countries, the Women's World Amateur Team Championships are a biennial international amateur competition, which is rotated among three geographic zones: Asia-Pacific, American and European-African. This year the event is hosted by the Puerto Rico Golf Association . The teams play for the Espirito Santo Trophy.

Each team, which has two or three players, plays 18 holes of stroke play for four days. In each round, the total of the two lowest scores by players from each team constitutes the team score for the round. The four-day (72 holes) total is the team's score for the championship.

Rio Grande, Puerto Rico – Results of Friday's (22 October) third round of the Women's World Amateur Team Championship, played at Rio Mar Country Club (Ocean Course=1: par 36-36—72, 6,159 yards, 5,629 meters; River Course=2: par 36-36—72, 5,956 yards, 5,444 meters):