Palpitating action as field cut to eight in chase for million

"That's kinda been the story of my year," said Inkster, who shot 72. "Whenever I need a good shot, I push it to the right."

This format pushes right back.

As though mere survival wasn't enough, another format change greeted the survivors after the scores were tallied and the bodies were carted away. Selecting in the order of their third-round scores, players were allowed to pick their pairings times Sunday.

Reigning player of the year Lorena Ochoa, who tied Paula Creamer for the best score of the day with a 6-under 66, immediately slid her name into the last pairing slot.

"I like to know what is going on so I can see what I need to shoot," Ochoa said.

So, she clearly likes to react to what's happening. Karrie Webb picked the second of four twosomes off the tee, so she can split the difference between reacting and setting the tone. Though she will probably lean toward the latter, it sounds like.

"You can't throttle down," Webb said. "Unless you come to the 16th with a four-shot lead, which unless you tear it up, I don't see that happening. You play as aggressively as you can and as you need to be, decide what each shot calls for and shoot as low as you can. That's the bottom line."

The theater for the gulp-inducing finale couldn't be better. The last three holes have been giving players fits all week, since there's water everywhere and the casualty rate has been alarmingly high. Kim was the lone player to move from outside the projected cut to inside the number with a late rally.

Sounds ideal, for viewers, anyway.

"I wouldn't call it perfect, because that s--- is scary," Kim laughed. "People don't want to end their season with ulcers."

Might be too late for some, though Kim seemed to be in the right frame of mind after capturing the last of the elite eight berths. After she laced her 7-iron to gimme range in the playoff, she ran toward caddie Donna Southam and did a celebratory chest bump.

As she lunged toward Southam, she said, "Hey, let's jump," the caddie said. Kim's pro-am partners this week had been doing similar moves, prompting the impromptu move.

"It was perfect timing," Kim said. "The moment was right."

Imagine what might happen when somebody wins the million. But there will be plenty of hand wringing before they get to that point. After all, with an eight-way tie out of the chute, this is the ADT for the ADD and anything could happen.

For instance, when asked whether she'd be flat-out flag hunting from the start or trying to counter-punch to what those in front of her were doing, Ochoa paused for a moment and gave the perfect answer for such a whacky event.

"Both," she said.