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PINE MOUNTAIN (Georgia), Oct 28: Joel Edwards, who last month captured his first title in 11 years on the U.S. PGA Tour, shot a seven-under-par 65 to snatch the lead after the third round of the $3.4 million Buick Challenge on Saturday.
The 39-year-old American’s excellent round at the Callaway Gardens Resort gave him an 18-under-par aggregate of 198 and a one-stroke advantage over second-round leader Davis Love, who followed up Friday’s 62 with a 69 in very cool, windy conditions.
Neal Lancaster was third on 200 following a 68, with Chris DiMarco fourth on 202 after his 71.
Bob Estes (69) and Sweden’s Per-Ulrik Johansson (68) were another stroke adrift, with defending champion David Duval (68) and Mark O’Meara (68) on 204.
Edwards’s 65 gave him a chance to qualify for the season-ending Tour Championship next week.
The Texan would move into the top 30 on the money list if he scooped the $612,000 first prize on Sunday and would earn a spot in the lucrative season finale for the first time.
Edwards led after 54 holes for only the second time in his career but insisted a berth in the Tour Championship would not be on his mind during the final round.
The highlight of Edwards’s round was an 18-foot putt for eagle at the 11th hole.
At the 15th, Love sent his tee shot into the woods and wound up with a bogey. Edwards had birdied 15 for a two-shot swing on the hole.
Third-placed Lancaster, who is 118th on the money list, said he had no chance against Love and Edwards, his playing partner in the third round.
While Edwards said he would not be thinking about the Tour Championship, it was uppermost in the mind of Jesper Parnevik, who kept alive his chances of cracking the top 30 by carding a five-under-par 67 after barely making the cut on Friday.
Leaders third round scores (U.S. unless noted):
198 Joel Edwards 65 68 65
199 Davis Love 68 62 69
200 Neal Lancaster 65 67 68
202 Chris DiMarco 67 64 71
203 Bob Estes 71 63 69, Per-Ulrik Johansson (Sweden) 65 70 68
204 David Duval 67 69 68, Mark O’Meara 66 70 68
205 Jeff Maggert 67 66 72
206 Jonathan Kaye 68 68 70, Vijay Singh (Fiji) 64 67 75, Chris Riley 68 69 69, Charles Howell 68 70 68, Danny Ellis 65 72 69
207 Tom Byrum 68 72 67, Shaun Micheel 67 70 70, Nick Price (Zimbabwe) 70 68 69
208 Brian Henninger 70 69 69, Steve Lowery 72 70 66, Jeff Sluman 70 71 67, Kevin Sutherland 70 69 69
209 Glen Day 69 71 69, Brent Geiberger 69 70 70, Greg Kraft 70 70 69, Jesper Parnevik (Sweden) 73 69 67, Loren Roberts 68 72 69, Carlos Franco (Paraguay) 67 70 72, Mike Sposa 65 71 73, David Gossett 71 70 68
MADRID: South Africa’s Retief Goosen is on the brink of becoming European number one for the first time after seizing a two-stroke lead in the third round of the Madrid Open Saturday.
Goosen’s only rival for the order of merit, Irishman Darren Clarke, shot a blistering 65 but conceded the title when he said he would not play in next week’s Italian Open.
With a five-under-par 66 taking him to a 17-under total of 196, Goosen would have to shoot his final round in the 90s and Clarke, already five strokes off the pace, would need victory here to keep the season’s money list race alive.
Clarke trails Goosen by $580,000 in the order of merit and the first prize at the only tournament now left for the pair - the Volvo Masters in two weeks’ time - is $500,000.
Goosen looks set for his third tournament win of the year following his third-round haul of seven birdies with two dropped shots at Club de Campo.
He leads playing partner and overnight leader David Higgins of Ireland, England’s Steve Webster and Spaniard Diego Borrego by two strokes.
His run of four birdies from the seventh must have been like a knife to Clarke’s heart, as Goosen, who had taken over from Higgins as early as a second hole birdie, adjusted his aim upwards to the $200,000 first prize.
Goosen finished off his day with aplomb, hitting to just 15 inches on the elevated 18th green for his seventh birdie, and he wants to end the week in similar fashion to highlight his order of merit success.
Clarke looks certain, though, to have to resign himself to a third order of merit runners-up place in four years, even though he did his best to stay on the scene with a flawless card of six birdies in his 65.
Leading third scores (Britain unless stated):
196 Retief Goosen (South Africa) 66 64 66
198 Diego Borrego (Spain) 69 65 64, Steve Webster 68 62 68, David Higgins (Ireland) 67 62 69
201 Darren Clarke 67 69 65, Richard Green (Australia) 69 67 65, Markus Brier (Austria) 67 68 66
202 Anders Hansen (Denmark) 68 69 65, Angel Cabrera (Argentina) 68 69 65, Phillip Price 66 69 67, Carlos Rodiles (Spain) 65 70 67, Miguel Angel Jimenez (Spain ) 65 67 70, David Lynn 68 66 68
203 Bradley Dredge 70 68 65, Greg Owen 67 70 66, Brian Davis 66 64 73
204 Wayne Riley (Australia) 71 67 66, Barry Lane 66 72 66, John Bickerton 69 67 68, David Howell 70 69 65, Jose Maria Olazabal (Spain) 69 67 68, Van Phillips 68 67 69, Padraig Harrington (Ireland) 63 72 69, Robert Coles 66 69 69, Jeev Milkha Singh (India) 72 67 65, Stephen Gallacher 64 70 70
205 Richard S Johnson (Sweden) 73 65 67, Des Smyth 65 73 67, Thomas Bjorn (Denmark) 68 71 66, Johan Rystrom (Sweden) 67 67 71, Fredrik Andersson (Sweden) 69 65 71—Reuters
