Appleby atop leaderboard
Stuart Appleby remained in position to join Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson as the only two-time winners on the PGA Tour this year, shooting a 3-under-par 69 Saturday to take a two-stroke lead in the Shell Houston Open in Humble, Texas.
Appleby had five birdies in his third straight sub-70 round at The Tournament Course at Redstone to finish at 14 under. The Australian bogeyed the difficult 18th, a hole he birdied at the end of a 66 in the first round.
Sweden’s Mathias Gronberg birdied the 18th for a 67 and a 12-under total. Jerry Smith (69) and Bob Estes (66) were four shots back at 10 under.
They all made surges but never overtook Appleby, who won the season-opening Mercedes Championships for the third straight year.
Appleby was one of 44 players who finished the rain-delayed second round in the morning. He parred his two remaining holes for a 67 to finish at 11 under, then opened his third round with three straight pars.
Appleby kick-started his day with a short birdie putt on the par-5 fourth. He chipped in over a ridge for another birdie at No. 6 and made a 30-footer on No. 7 to move to 14 under.
Greg Owen, who shot a tournament-low 65 on Friday, played with Appleby and birdied the first hole to tie for the lead. Owen promptly bogeyed No. 2, starting the downward spiral to a 75.
Champions Tour
Jay Haas survived a bogey on the final hole to take a two-shot lead in the Liberty Mutual Legends of Golf in Savannah, Ga.
Haas shot a 4-under 68 at The Club at Savannah Harbor, a 7,087-yard island layout in the middle of the Savannah River. That put him at 10-under 134 and earned him a pairing in today’s final round with fan favorite Craig Stadler, who shot a 67.
Jerry Pate (69), winner of the Outback Steakhouse Pro Am in February, was another stroke back at 137 and Bob Murphy (69) was four behind.
Hale Irwin (69), Peter Jacobsen (69) and Allen Doyle (68) were five shots back at 139.
LPGA
The lead is a lot smaller. The position is the same.
Annika Sorenstam is the one to beat in the final round at Eagle’s Landing Country Club.
Shrugging off a couple of rain delays, Sorenstam shot an 8-under 64 – her third straight round in the 60s – to move to the top of the leaderboard in the Florida’s Natural Charity Championship in Stockbridge, Ga.
A year ago, Sorenstam had essentially wrapped up the tournament by the end of the third round, taking a 10-stroke lead to Sunday and winning by the same margin. This time, she’ll go to the final 18 holes with a one-stroke cushion over 36-hole leader Sung Ah Yim, who posted a bogey-free 68.
Wendy Ward of Edwall, Wash., and Rathdrum’s Tracy Hanson carded 74s. Ward is at 2-under 214 – 15 strokes behind Sorenstam – while Hanson is at even-par 216.