ROCKLAND, Del. -- Nancy Lopez, in the fifth month of pregnancy, cited fatigue in announcing her withdrawal from the LPGA Championship yesterday.

The 72-hole championship will begin Thursday at Bethesda (Md.) Country Club.

Her place in the field will be taken by Jennifer Wyatt.

"I withdrew from the championship this [yesterday] morning. This is my last one. I'm ready to go home," Lopez said after completing a third-round, 3-under-par 68 for 210 in the McDonald's Championship at Du Pont Country Club.

"Yesterday [Friday, when it was hot and humid] took a lot out of me," added the Hall of Fame member, a winner of three LPGA Championships. "It's hard to keep motivating yourself when you are so tired. It's been getting increasingly difficult."

Of the round, she said: "I birdied the last three holes [putts of 12, 12 and 5 feet], and that brought me back into it [the tournament]. It wasn't so hard to get around this time, because it wasn't so hot.

"I'm within striking distance," she continued, looking at a leader board that showed leader Sally Little at 9-under par. "There are still a lot of holes out left out there, and with the rain, the course is playing longer.

"My thinking is if I can't win, I'd like to get a high finish, something to take home. It'll be nice to be together as a family.

Lopez and her husband, former Baltimore Orioles player Ray Knight, now a baseball commentator for ESPN, are parents of two daughters, Ashley, 7, and Erin, 5.