Goydos, Sauers shoot 66, lead Dick’s Sporting Goods Open
ENDICOTT, N.Y. – Before Gene Sauers entered the interview room at En-Joie Golf Club, he grinned as he looked at his round details.
“I’ve always loved this course,” Sauers said. “It’s good for me.”
On Friday, it was very good for him. Sauers shot a 6-under 66 to tie Paul Goydos for the first-round lead in the Champions Tour’s Dick’s Sporting Goods Open. John Huston, the tournament winner four years ago, was a stroke back along with Ian Woosnam.
Peter Senior, a late addition to the field, was another shot back and tied for fifth with Bob Friend, Steve Jones, Rod Spittle, Jeff Maggert, and Willie Wood, who won here in 2012. Defending champion Bernhard Langer had a 71.
John Cook was disqualified for signing an incorrect scorecard. He made an eight at No. 16 and signed for a seven.
Sauers had four birdies on the front nine and three on the back, his lone blemish on the day a bogey at the par-3 seventh when he drove into a greeenside bunker and couldn’t get up and down. He hit 11 of 14 fairways and 16 of 18 greens in regulation on the short and narrow tree-lined course. He rolled in a pair of 10-foot birdie putts that broke left to right at Nos. 13 and 17.
“I’ve always had trouble putting. Now, it’s the best part of my game,” he said.
The 53-year-old Sauers, winless on the Champions Tour, was the 54-hole leader at last year’s U.S. Senior Open at Oak Tree National. But he missed a 6-foot birdie putt on the final hole to fall into a playoff and lost to Colin Montgomerie. Still, he finished just inside the top 20 on the money list, his highest standing ever, compliments of three top-three finishes in his first five tournaments.
“I’ve been playing pretty well,” Sauers said. “I just haven’t got the job done. I just have to keep fighting.”
With his short game in top form, Goydos had four birdies on the front nine and another at No. 10 as he converted three putts inside 6 feet and two others within 6 inches. A 25-foot birdie putt at No. 17 forged a tie for the lead.
“From tee to green, I played as well as I have all year,” Goydos said. “It was a nice start.”
Huston, who is vying to become the first repeat winner of the event, had eight birdies, a bogey and a double bogey. Despite hitting just 7 of 14 fairways, Huston moved into contention with his play on the firm greens. He needed just 26 putts.
Michael Allen had four birdies in a five-hole span on the front nine and tacked on two more birdies on the first three holes along the back side to reach 5 under. A three-putt bogey at the par-4 11th hole began a slide, and Allen followed with bogeys at Nos. 14 and 15 to fall back into a tie for 11th at 3 under with Kevin Sutherland and eight other players.
Sutherland, who became the first player in Champions Tour history to shoot a 59 when he accomplished the feat here a year ago in the second round, had an up-and-down day with five birdies and two bogeys in 69.
The round was played under ideal partly cloudy conditions, with temperatures in the 70s and just the hint of a breeze. Kenny Perry said the 6,974-yard course was as firm as he’d ever seen it and predicted a bunch of low scores.
They just weren’t as low as expected. The first-round leader in each of the previous five Champions Tour tournaments at En-Joie shot 65.
Sauers wasn’t complaining.
“There’s always low rounds out there,” Sauers said. “You’ve just got to give yourself opportunities.”
Among those who failed to break par were Tom Purtzer (74), Mark Calcavecchia (75), and Woody Austin (77).
Austin, who entered the tournament ranked ninth in points and has six top 10 finishes in 2015, had five bogeys and a double-bogey 6 along with two birdies as he hit only seven fairways. A year ago, he finished tied for second here with Allen.
Montgomerie, the Schwab Cup points leader, is not playing for a second straight week because of commitments in Europe, giving Maggert and Langer a chance to take over the top spot. Montgomerie has 2,873 points, Maggert 2,707 and Langer 2,604 in what has become a three-way competition with only four more events until the Schwab Cup Championship in November.
St. Catharines, Ont., native Rod Spittle carded five birdies en route to a 4-under 68. Stephen Ames finished the day at even-par.
Andrade wins Boeing Classic for 2nd Champions Tour title
SNOQUALMIE, Wash. – Billy Andrade won the Boeing Classic on Sunday for his second Champions Tour victory and first in an individual event, overcoming trouble early in the final round for a one-stroke victory.
Andrade closed with a 1-over 73 to finish at 9-under 207 at TPC Snoqualmie Ridge. He opened with rounds of 69 and 65 to take a three-stroke lead into the final round.
The 51-year-old Andrade teamed with Joe Duran to win the Legends of Golf in April for his first Champions Tour title. Andrade won four times on the PGA Tour.
Andrade never lost the lead and held off a large chase pack that included Bernhard Langer, Fred Couples and Mark O’Meara.
Langer was second after a 71. Couples (69), O’Meara (68), Guy Boros (68) and Fran Quinn (69) tied for third at 7 under.
Andrade’s 73 was the highest final-round score by a tour winner since Roger Chapman had a 1-over 71 in the 2012 Senior PGA Championship.
Andrade was at 11 under until he got to the fourth where he made triple bogey on the par 4. Andrade’s tee shot went out of bounds, he later needed to take a drop out of the woods and chipped in from off the green to make seven.
Andrade had a bogey on the seventh hole and fell into a tie for the lead, but birdies at Nos. 8 and 12 gave him a three-shot lead and he parred the final six holes to hang on.
Langer started the day in second place, but went 15 holes between birdies before dropping a short putt at the 17th to get back to 7 under. He reached the par-5 18th in two, but his eagle putt slid past the hole and Andrade two-putted to complete the victory. Langer finished in the top three for his fifth straight event and his third straight second place finish.
Couples, the hometown favorite, moved into contention after making eagle on the par 5 eighth, but bogeyed the 11th after his tee shot found the thick rough left of the fairway. He recovered with birdies on Nos. 13 and 14 to reach 6 under but missed a short birdie putt at the 15th and bogeyed the 17th. Couples and O’Meara both eagled the 18th to finish at 7 under.
Billy Andrade leads Champions Tour’s Boeing Classic
SNOQUALMIE, Wash. – Billy Andrade made a 10-foot birdie putt on the par-5 18th hole for a 7-under 65 and a three-stroke lead Saturday after the second round of the Champions Tour’s Boeing Classic.
The 51-year-old Andrade had eight birdies – three in a row on Nos. 13-15 – and a bogey to reach 10-under 134 at TPC Snoqualmie Ridge. The four-time PGA Tour winner teamed with Joe Duran to win the Legends of Golf in April for his first Champions Tour title.
Bernhard Langer and Jeff Freeman were tied for second. Langer, the 2010 winner, had a 66, and Freeman shot 68.
Langer, who turns 58 Thursday, birdied five of the final six holes. The German star is trying to tie Gil Morgan for third place on the tour’s career victory list with 25.
Freeman got into the tournament as an alternate. He has three top-10 finishes in 33 Champions Tour starts.
Fred Couples, from Seattle, was tied for fourth at 4 under after a 71.
Rod Spittle of St. Catharines, Ont., leads the Canadian contingent with a share of ninth-place. The 60-year-old carded a 3-under 69 and is part of an eight-way tie. Stephen Ames sits tied for 32nd following a 74 while Jim Rutledge finished the day with a 79.
Larry Mize leads Champions Tour’s Boeing Classic
SNOQUALMIE, Wash. – Larry Mize birdied the par-5 18th hole for a 5-under 67 and a two-stroke lead over Fred Couples and four others Friday after the first round of the Champions Tour’s Boeing Classic.
The 56-year-old Mize had a bogey-free round at TPC Snoqualmie Ridge. The 1987 Masters champion won the 2010 Montreal Championship for his lone title on the 50-and-over tour.
“I am pleasantly surprised,” Mize said. “I’ve been working hard to get things turned around. I was optimistic I could have a good week.”
Couples, trying to win his hometown event for the first time, was tied for second at 69 with Billy Andrade, Carlos Franco, Jeff Freeman and Chien Soon Lu.
Mize hasn’t had a top-10 finish in more than two years. He said “a little bit of everything” has been holding him back.
“More ball-striking than anything,” he said. “I guess you could say I’ve gotten my swing out of whack and I’ve just been having a hard time getting it back going again.”
Couples, from Seattle, played in the featured group with Bernhard Langer and Jeff Maggert, coming off his third victory of the season two weeks ago in Alberta. Couples, who shot a 59 Wednesday in a warmup round at the nearby Broadmoor Country Club, birdied Nos. 10, 11 and 15 also closed with three straight pars.
“I think the birdies on 10 and 11 kept the round where I got under and stayed there,” Couples said. “The greens were beautiful, rock hard, which everyone kind of likes. Larry Mize had a phenomenal round. You can tell because 15th-18th place is 1 under. That’s a long cry from 67. A 69 here before was a really nice score.”
The field average of 73.35 was the second highest for any round in the 11-year history of the event.
Couples used the same putter he had for his 59. He said it was a club that had been sitting around at a friend’s house.
“I’ve been known to leave clubs around,” he said. “I left that one there. I saw it and we went out and played. I left mine (old one) in the room. I didn’t think I could give up on it after shooting a 59. It’ll be in my bag (this weekend).”
Langer shot a 70, and Maggert had a 72.
Defending champion Scott Dunlap opened with a 74.
Jeff Maggert wins Champions Tour’s Shaw Charity Classic
CALGARY, Alta. – Jeff Maggert won the Shaw Charity Classic on Sunday for his third Champions Tour title of year, birdieing five of the last six holes on the front nine in a four-stroke victory.
The 51-year-old Texan, two strokes behind playing partners Miguel Angel Jimenez and Colin Montgomerie entering the round, closed with a 6-under 64 at Canyon Meadows to finish at 16-under 194.
“I feel a little fortunate, obviously,” Maggert said. “I really thought Colin and Miguel would play some solid rounds. You know, the golf course, we had a little wind today, so it didn’t play as easy as it did some of the other rounds.
“I stuck to my game plan on the front nine. I wanted to make as many birdies as I can. Colin had a little hiccup there on the ninth green and all of a sudden I’m walking off the ninth hole with a nice big lead, which was unexpected.”
Maggert added birdies on the par-5 11th and par-3 14th, dropped a stroke on the par-4 15th and parred the final three holes.
“The course played tough at the end,” Maggert said. “The wind came up and 13, 15, 16, 17 all played tough at the end. The only hiccup there was on 15 with the three-putt.”
The three-time PGA Tour winner also won major titles this year in the Regions Tradition and U.S. Senior Open. He won the Mississippi Gulf Resort Classic last year in his debut on the 50-and-over tour.
“A late bloomer maybe,” Maggert said. “Twenty-five years of playing on the tour and I had a lot of close calls, a lot of chances to win a few majors. I thought I would have won a dozen times on my career, but I didn’t. So in some regards I feel like I’ve still got a lot to prove to myself and my golf game.”
Maggert earned $352,500 to take the money lead with $1,805,176 and moved into second place behind Montgomerie in the season-long Charles Schwab Cup race.
Montgomerie was second after a 70.
“I felt a bit dizzy and a bit weird all day actually,” Montgomerie said. “I don’t know why I would feel that way. I don’t know. I didn’t play well at all, but I managed to summon up some sort of energy to get it up-and-down at 16, 17 and 18.”
He’s scheduled to play in the PGA Championship next week at Whistling Straits in Wisconsin.
“I don’t feel very well, so I’m going to rest the next couple days and look forward to hopefully playing in the U.S. PGA,” Montgomerie said.
Mark O’Meara and Scott Dunlop tied for third at 11 under. Dunlap had a 64, and O’Meara shot 66.
Fred Couples, the winner last year, finished with a 68 to tie for fifth at 10 under.
Jimenez had a 74 to drop into a tie for 12th at 8 under. He matched the course record Saturday with a 61.
Canadian Stephen Ames finished T5 after a final-round of 3-under 67.
Jimenez shoots 61, ties Montgomerie for Shaw Charity Classic lead
CALGARY, Alta. – Miguel Angel Jimenez eagled the par-5 18th hole Saturday to match the course record of 9-under 61 and tie Colin Montgomerie for the second-round lead in the Shaw Charity Classic.
With wife Susanne working her first tournament at his caddie, Jimenez matched Fred Couples’ course record set last year.
“My caddie needed 19 working days to get a visa to come here and that’s the reason he’s not here,” Jimenez said. “My wife is a good player, a single handicap, too, and she knows about golf. She said from the beginning, `If he’s not coming, I would love to caddie for you.’ `OK, fine. No problem.'”
The 51-year-old Spanish player made seven birdies in a nine-hole stretch in the middle of the round. He set up his closing eagle with a 7-wood to 9 feet.
“I played very well,” Jimenez said. “I hit very solid from green to tee and, in the beginning, the ball not like to drop in the hole. But then I start to make birdies. … It’s going to be a very tight finish tomorrow, that’s for sure.”
Montgomerie, the first-round leader after a 62, birdied the 18th for a 66 to join Jimenez at 12-under 128 at Canyon Meadows. The Scot had an eagle, five birdies and three bogeys.
“Disappointing the way I finished,” Montgomerie said. “I missed three putts in a row there at 16, 17 and 18. I three-putted the 16th for a bogey and I missed a very makeable putt at 17 for a birdie and I missed a very makeable eagle putt at the last. So, very disappointing finish, to be honest.”
Jimenez won the season-opening Mitsubishi Electric Championship in Hawaii in January. He also won the Greater Gwinnett Championship last year in his first start on the Champions Tour.
“Obviously, Miguel had a great day as I did yesterday,” Montgomerie said. “It’s set up for a very exciting finish.”
Jimenez and Montgomerie are travelling together to the PGA Championship after the tour tournament.
“Yeah, we’re sharing a plane tomorrow as well to Milwaukee to get there in time,” Montgomerie said. “I know him very well. Obviously, played on many Ryder Cup teams with him and he’s a great competitor.”
Montgomerie successfully defended his title in the Senior PGA Championship in May for his third major victory on the 50-and-over tour.
Jeff Maggert, the Regions Tradition and U.S. Senior Open winner, was 10 under after a 63. He played alongside Jimenez and Couples.
“Sometimes when the guys in your group are making a lot of birdies, we all kind of feed off each other,” Maggert said. “I made birdies early. Then Miguel made three or four birdies out of five holes, so we just kind of kept each other going.”
Defending champion Couples was tied for fourth at 8 under after a 65. Last year, Couples chipped in for eagle for a 61 in the final round, then beat Billy Andrade with a tap-in birdie on the first playoff hole.
“I’m in the same spot I was last year,” Couples said. “I’ve just got to go out and freewheel it and try and shoot a good score. Last year was a crazy score like Miguel’s today. Am I out of it? No, but I don’t think Miguel’s going to struggle at all.”
Woody Austin also was 8 under after a 64.
Mark O’Meara, Tom Byrum, Michael Allen and Canadian Stephen Ames were 7 under. Byrum had a 66, and O’Meara shot 67, and Allen and Ames 68.
Colin Montgomerie takes lead in Shaw Charity Classic
CALGARY, Alberta – Colin Montgomerie birdied three of the final four holes for an 8-under 62 and the first-round lead Friday in the Champions Tour’s Shaw Charity Classic.
Playing alongside defending champion Fred Couples and Miguel Angel Jimenez, Montgomerie had nine birdies and a bogey at Canyon Meadows.
“I knew that if I kept up with them or kept around them I was doing OK, Montgomerie said about his playing partners. “All in all, I got the most out of the round. I’m not one of these guys who’s going to say it should have been 59. For God’s sake, I got the most out of it.”
The Scot successfully defended his title in the Senior PGA Championship in May for his third major victory on the 50-and-over tour.
“Week in and week out you’ve got to play your best, there’s no question,” Montgomerie said. “If you don’t play your best, you will not win, as simple as that.”
Australia’s Peter Senior was a stroke back.
“I holed a couple of big putts in the first four holes, so it got me going and I played a little bit better,” Senior said. “Played pretty good on the back side, missed a couple of short ones on the last two. … But all in all, I haven’t played well for a long time, so it’s just nice to actually put a score on the board.”
Corey Pavin was tied for third at 65 with Scott McCarron, Tommy Armour III, Michael Allen, Skip Kendall and Canada’s Stephen Ames.
Couples and Jimenez each shot 67. Last year, Couples chipped in for eagle for a course-record 61, then beat Billy Andrade with a tap-in birdie on the first hole of a playoff.
“I played OK,” Couples said. “I watched a great round.”
The players were allowed to lift, clean and place their golf balls in the fairways because of wet conditions.
“Tomorrow, just got to shoot really low,” Couples said. “I don’t know if we’re going to play the ball up or down, but hopefully we don’t touch it. It’s not like Monty misses fairways or anything, but it just makes the scoring a little harder to not clean it. I need to shoot 66 or 65.
“If they tee them up, I think a lot of people will shoot the same score. But the course was perfect today. It was a little wet, but Monty played phenomenal golf.”
Couples aims to overcome stacked field and defend Shaw Charity title
CALGARY – With a sore back that has limited him to playing just five Champions Tour events this season, Fred Couples knows that defending his Shaw Charity Classic title this weekend won’t be an easy task.
Fortunately for him, he’s been known to tear it up at Canyon Meadows Golf and Country Club.
Couples won last year’s event at the Calgary course in thrilling fashion by chipping in for eagle on the par-5, 18th hole to shoot a course record 9-under 61 before beating Billy Andrade in a one-hole playoff.
“To be honest, when I chipped it in, I didn’t know I shot 61, I just knew I had a really good round,” said Couples, 55, who has won 11 times in six seasons on the Champions Tour. “I haven’t shot many 61s in my life and it was a good one here.”
In order to win back-to-back titles, Couples will have to fend off challenges from the likes of Charles Schwab Cup points race leader Colin Montgomerie and Jeff Maggert, who has already won a pair of majors – the Regions Tradition in May and the U.S. Senior Open Championship in June – this season.
“The main thing is I like the course,” said Couples. “I feel like I should play well here and I want to play here every year and hopefully in the next few years win it again before I get too old.
“I grew up in Seattle and we don’t play a ton of courses that remind me of Jefferson Park where I grew up playing. I like the greens, I like the shape of the holes and I seem to play well here.”
This will be Montgomerie’s first time competing in Calgary, while Maggert is looking to improve upon his performance from last year when he finished in a tie for 27th place at 6 under.
“I had a great start obviously, winning a couple majors, and I’m in position to make a run for the Charles Schwab Cup,” said Maggert, who sits third in the standings behind Montgomerie and Bernhard Langer, the latter of whom isn’t competing in Calgary this weekend. “My game’s in good shape, so looking forward to a good week here. Last year was my first time here. I thought the golf course was fabulous, so I’m looking forward to getting back.”
Other golfers in the top 10 in the points race who are competing in Calgary include Kevin Sutherland (fifth), Joe Durant (sixth), Lee Janzen (seventh), Esteban Toledo (eighth), Andrade (ninth) and Woody Austin (10th).
Couples will start the first round on Friday morning in a group with Montgomerie and Miguel Angel Jimenez, who ranks 15th in the Charles Schwab Cup points standings despite playing in only five Champions Tour events so far this season.
“I have the game to win any week,” said Jimenez, who won the opening event of the season, the Mitsubishi Electric Championship at Hualalai on Jan. 25 in Hawaii. “You have to respect the rest of the guys. They’re very good players, competitors, and anyone can win the tournament. My game is there – just keep passionate, keep playing golf and let things happen.”
Meanwhile, Maggert will play in a group on Friday with Mark O’Meara and Calgary’s Stephen Ames, who finished well back of the field last year at 4-over par through three rounds of play.
“It’s nice to come home and see a lot of familiar faces walking around, which is beautiful,” said Ames, who grew up in Trinidad and Tobago before becoming a Canadian citizen in 2003.
The field also features four other Canadians in Rod Spittle of Niagara Falls, Ont., Calgary’s Darryl James as well as Jim Rutledge and Rick Gibson, both from Victoria.
Perry successfully defends 3M Championship title
BLAINE, Minn. – Comfortably in front, Kenny Perry felt uneasy for most of his 18 holes Sunday.
Afterward, he couldn’t have been much happier.
Perry breezed to his second straight victory in the Champions Tour’s 3M Championship, shooting a 4-under 68 for a four-stroke victory over Bernhard Langer, Scott Dunlap and Kevin Sutherland.
After shooting a 61 on Saturday to take a four-stroke lead, Perry had six birdies and two bogeys in the final round to finish at 18-under 198. He became the first player to successfully defend a title in the tournament’s 23-year history, winning for the eighth time on the 50-and-over tour.
Last year, Perry made a 15-foot birdie putt on the final hole to beat Langer by a stroke at TPC Twin Cities.
“I like being the chaser. You’re relaxed, you’re free, you’re going, you’re charging, you’re going after everything,” Perry said. “When you got a four- or five-shot lead, you’re playing safe, you’re playing not to mess up, and that’s a hard way to play golf.”
Langer closed with a 67, and Dunlap and Sutherland each shot 68.
In seven appearances in the event, Langer has won twice (2009 and 2012) and finished second three times.
“The putts didn’t drop. I had a bunch of opportunities and I shot 5-under, but if I putt well it could have been 9 or 10 under,” he said.
Marco Dawson, the Senior British Open winner last week, had a 68 to finish fifth at 13 under. Dealing with a painful back, Minnesota native Tom Lehman, who led after a first-round 64, shot a 69 to finish sixth at 12 under.
The 54-year-old Perry is 46 under for his last seven rounds in the event. In five tournament appearances, he has two wins, a second, third and seventh.
“Kenny Perry is just better on this course,” Langer said. “It’s his length that really suits him here.”
Perry leads the tour in driving distance, averaging just under 300 yards.
“When you can play mid-irons instead of a hybrid or a wood, you’ve got a huge advantage and you can actually stop the ball a little bit,” Perry said.
Perry opened a five-shot lead with a birdie at No. 10. He had a bogey on the par-4 14th, dropping his lead back to four, but responded with a birdie two holes later.
Knowing the tournament was pretty much over with his birdie at 16, Perry still couldn’t relax with water on the par-3 17th – which he double-bogeyed Friday – and the par-5 18th.
“This tournament’s never really over `til it’s over,” he said.
The day didn’t start out well for Perry when his four-shot lead after the second round quickly dropped to two after a first-hole bogey coupled with a birdie by Sutherland.
Each player birdied two of the next four holes, before Perry birdied the par-5 sixth for three-shot cushion. It expanded to four when Sutherland recoded bogey on the par-3 eighth.
“To Kenny’s credit, he played fantastic golf all day, and I slowed down,” Sutherland said. “I didn’t make any birdies until 18,”
Sutherland was a cumulative 13 under on his first five holes during the tournament, 1 under on the others.
“I gave myself a chance, I got off to a really good start, gave myself an opportunity, but, unfortunately, wasn’t able to extend it,” he said.
Canadian Stephen Ames finished T7 with a final round of 4-under 68.
Perry shoots 61 to take lead in 3M Championship
BLAINE, Minn. – Thoughts of a 59 crept into Kenny Perry’s mind early in his record-tying round Saturday in the Champions Tour’s 3M Championship.
The defending champion didn’t get that low, but had a hole-in-one and matched the tournament record with an 11-under 61 to take a four-stroke lead into the final round.
Perry has a 14-under 130 total at the TPC Twin Cities. His last 61 came at the Travelers Championship in June 2009 in the last of his 14 PGA Tour victories.
“I thought I needed a low round to get back in the tournament,” said Perry, who began the day five behind Minnesota native Tom Lehman.
Kevin Sutherland and Scott Dunlap are tied for second. Sutherland had a 65, and Dunlap shot 67.
Lehman followed his opening 64 with a 71 to drop into a tie for fourth at 9 under with Bernhard Langer and Marco Dawson. Langer and Dawson each shot 67. Langer won the event in 2009 and 2012 and has two second-place finishes in his previous six appearances. Dawson won the Senior British Open last week in England.
Perry played the first eight holes in 7 under, making an ace on the 188-yard fourth hole, had two birdies on the back nine and closed with an 18-foot eagle putt on the par-5 18th.
“To start out 5 under through four, I had an idea it might be a special day,” Perry said. “I started thinking, `You know what, what is it like to shoot a 59?'”
Perry, who once shot 59 on a par-70 municipal course in a mini-tour event in Nashville, needed just 23 putts.
“That was kind of the story of the day. I had great touch and feel,” he said.
Perry made a 15-foot birdie putt on final hole to beat Langer by a stroke last year, finishing at 23 under. Since the 3M Championship began in 1993, no player has repeated as champion.
“If I can putt like I did today I’m going to like my chances,” Perry said.
Seeking his first win in 24 career Champions Tour starts, Sutherland birdied the first five holes and shot a front-nine 30, but had just one birdie on the back nine when he couldn’t make key putts, including a three-putt on No. 18.
“I’m a little disappointed at the end of the day,” said Sutherland, who shot the tour’s first 59 last August at the Dick’s Sporting Goods Open. “You know that Kenny is kind of running away from you, so you know you have to make some coming in to close the gap a little bit. I wasn’t able to do that.”
Lehman birdied three straight holes early in his round to maintain a three-stroke lead at 11-under, but he tweaked his back on a bunker shot while bogeying the short par-4 seventh and had a double bogey on the par-3 eighth. He recorded par on nine straight holes, until a birdie on the final hole.
“It’s hard to get any kind of rhythm, hard to hit the ball solid,” Lehman said. “I had a hard time bending over to putt.”
The wind that wreaked havoc Friday was absent Saturday, allowing players to be bold and aim for the pins. Saturday’s average score was 69.11; Friday it was 71.99. The wind is expected to increase just a bit for Sunday’s final round.
Larry Nelson shot a 66, bettering his age by one stroke.