RANCHO MIRAGE — Cristie Kerr is the lone player among the top six of the Kraft Nabisco Championship leaderboard with a major championship already under her belt.

After three rounds, Kerr was alone in second place at 7 under, after shooting a 2-under 70 on Saturday on the Dinah Shore Tournament Course. She trails Kristy McPherson's 208 by one stroke.

Winning the U.S. Women's Open in 2007, however, will give her an edge over the rest of the leaders, Kerr said.

“I definitely think it's an advantage, knowing what it's not only like to win a tournament, but a major, and how to handle the emotions and how you feel,” Kerr said. “I'm sure not even having won a tournament, they are not really going to know what they feel tomorrow, so I think that's to my advantage.”

Kerr birdied Nos. 2, 11 and 17, while posting a bogey on No. 4. But it was the two par-3 holes on the back nine that really made Kerr's day.

On 17, she hit a 6-iron stiff to within six inches of the hole. She made the birdie putt, however, she said that the iron shot wasn't her initial intention.

“I didn't aim it there. I aimed it where my game plan was, to kind of aim at the bunker and get a putt pin high from about 30 feet, because I made it last year,” Kerr said. “I made birdie last year when that pin was there as well. It was a fortunate break for me that it hit in the spot that it did and almost went in — it was nice not to have to work a lot.”

The shot that really kept Kerr near the top of the leader board came on the par-3 14th hole. Her tee shot landed on the green, but rolled much too fast, and was headed toward water when it struck a rock on the edge of the hazard and took an improbable bounce that sent it flying in the opposite direction. The ball landed back on the green and stopped just feet from the hole.

And while she missed the putt to make par, it averted certain catastrophe had it gone in the drink.

“I thought it was in the water for sure. I even went in there and looked — it was the hand of God, that's for sure,” Kerr said. “I should have made the putt. It would have been a better story. Sometimes you get a break, and to contend, in a major especially, you have to have the good breaks.”

Kerr was aided greatly in her move to the top tier of the leader board by Friday's gale-force winds. She was one of the lucky half who teed off in the morning, before the winds reached their 50-mph peak, which allowed her to shoot a 68 — the best score of the day. Nobody who teed off after noon shot par.

“I was very happy. Last week at Phoenix, I played in the afternoon on Thursday when it was nearly 50-mph wind, so it was nice to just not have to play two weeks in a row like that,” Kerr said.

“I went out with my coach out of PGA West and hit some balls and worked on a couple of things (in the afternoon). Yeah, I was definitely happy to not be playing in the afternoon. It was difficult enough hitting balls in that kind of wind.”