BILL HAAS TAKES THREE-SHOT LEAD IN NORTHERN TRUST OPEN THIRD ROUND

FROM THE US PGATOUR WEBSITE
PACIFIC PALISADES, California -- Bill Haas had no reason to think this round at Riviera Country Club was going to be anything special.
With an iron in his hand, he failed to make birdie on the par-5 opening hole, the easiest on the golf course. Solid iron shots led to a pair of birdies on the front nine, and with Riviera playing tough in warm, dry conditions on Saturday, he was part of a large group challenging for the lead.
Haas made a tough 30-footer for birdie on No. 9. He pitched in from 60 feet for eagle on the scary par-4 10th. And he hit a good bunker shot with little margin for error on the par-5 11th that set up a birdie.

Just like that, he was on his way to a 7-under 64 and a three-shot lead going into the final round of the Northern Trust Open.
His 64 was the best round of a difficult day by three shots, and it was nearly eight shots better than the average score. It put Haas at 12-under 201, leaving him in good position to become only the eighth back-to-back winner in the 76-year history of this tournament.
All he cares about Sunday is winning.
"It's very difficult in this game to just pull away from the rest of the field," Haas said. "You've only seen a few guys ever really do that, and those are guys like Jack Nicklaus, Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson. So I think I've just got to stay in the moment, don't let my emotions get the best of me."
A year ago, Haas was two shots behind going into the final round and wound up winning in a playoff over Mickelson and Keegan Bradley. This time, he has a comfortable margin over U.S. Open champion Webb Simpson and former Masters champion Charl Schwartzel, who each thought they did well for a 68.
John Merrick bogeyed the 18th hole for a 70 and joined Simpson and Schwartzel at 9-under 204.
Luke Donald overcame a sloppy start -- three bogeys in a six-hole stretch -- with four birdies on the back nine to salvage a 70 that put him four shots behind, along with Fredrik Jacobson (72).
Mickelson was hopeful of making a move and instead went the other direction. He missed three par putts of about 6 feet on the front nine and had a 72, putting him nine shots behind. Ernie Els, playing with Mickelson, also dropped shots early and dropped out of the hunt with a 73.
The round started with 20 players separated by five shots. Thanks to Haas and his flawless play, only eight players were within five of the lead.
It might not be easy for anyone to catch up to Haas if the sunshine continues to bake Riviera. The fairways were so firm that tee shots were running some 50 yards after they landed, and the greens were firm enough that balls ran out an extra two feet around the hole.
"I had a lot of 3- and 4-footers for par," Simpson said. He was pleased with his round of 68 that included only one bogey, but when Simpson pulled out his cell phone to check the leaderboard as he sat down for lunch, he saw Haas on top with a 64.
"So he played great," Simpson said.
Most impressive about how Haas has gone around Riviera in the last few days is 40 consecutive holes without a bogey. The last one he made was on Thursday when he missed a 4-foot putt.
But on this day, it was his birdies and one eagle that made the difference.
"I was just kind of plugging along out there and then all of a sudden, made a nice putt at 9, chip-in at 10, good up-and-down at 11," he said.
And off he went.
The birdie putt on the ninth was about 30 feet, and Haas had to play it outside the hole and hit it with purpose. It broke sharply into the cup, and then he hit 3-wood off the tee on the 10th, leaving it some 10 yards short of the green with the left pin. 
He had seen Greg Chalmers play a pitch from about the same area to 6 feet short of the hole and figured that was a good play -- anything that rolled by the hole was likely to keep going off the green and down into a valley.
Haas hit an even better shot, landing it about 15 feet short of the hole and watching it roll into the cup. He hit his second shot into a bunker near the green on the par-5 11th and got that close for birdie, and later in his round, he splashed out of the sand on the par-5 17th to inside a foot for his final birdie.
Simpson, who arrived at Wake Forest University the year Haas graduated, figures Haas will have to make a few mistakes for anyone to make a big move.
"I think Bill is in a position, if he keeps a three-shot lead and goes and plays well again, that it's going to be hard to catch him," Simpson said. "But with the golf course this tricky, you get a guy that has a good front nine, he could be tied or even in the lead with nine to go. So anything can happen tomorrow."
Schwartzel is the only player with all three rounds in the 60s. He made two mistakes, one of them more of a bad break. His tee shot on the 10th bounded through the green with such pace that it stayed toward the back slope of the rear bunker. His shot came out too soft and rolled back off the green, leading to bogey.
He came out weakly from the sand on the 15th and had to make a 6-footer to escape with bogey.
"It's easy to make bogeys," Schwartzel said. "The course got a bit firmer and, playing in the last few groups, the greens get a bit more bumpy.
So it's hard to make birdies and also to keep the bogeys off the card."
"I probably won't change anything," he said. "Just keep playing the way I am and see if I can give myself chances and see what happens. I know the game is good enough to be able to win tomorrow."

DIVOTS: Sang-Moon Bae, who shared the 36-hole lead with Jacobson, took double bogey on the 17th hole and had a 76 to fall eight shots behind. ... Charlie Beljan, he of panic attack fame when he won at Disney, felt his heart race when he realised he would play with Mickelson and Els. Beljan beat them both with a 68, and then asked them to autograph his visor. ... Jacobson would have to finish alone in 19th place or better to avoid facing Tiger Woods in the opening round of the World Golf Championships-Accenture Match Play Championship next week. He is in a two-way tie for fifth. ... Lee Westwood fell nine shots behind with a double bogey on the par-3 14th and a bogey on the par-5 17th. He shot 74.

THIRD-ROUND LEADERBOARD
Par 213 (3x71)
Players from USA unless stated
201 Bill Haas 70 67 64
204 Webb Simpson 70 66 68, Charl Schwartzel (South Africa) 69 67 68, John Merrick 68 66 70.
205 Luke Donald (England) 69 66 70, Fredrik Jacobson (Sweden) 68 65 72
206 Josh Teater 70 68 68, Charlie Beljan 67 71 68.
207 Hunter Mahan 70 69 68, Sergio Garcia (Spain) 65 73 69
208 Adam Scott (Australia) 71 67 70, Ryan Moore 70 67 71

SELECTED SCORES
209 Sang-Moon Bae (South Korea) 68 65 76 (T13)
210 Greg Owen (England) 69 71 70, Phil Mickelson 71 67 72, Lee Westwood (England) 68 68 74 (T12)
211 Ross Fisher (England) 72 71 68 (T22)
212 David Lynn (England) 67 74 72, Brian Davis (England) 70 68 73 (T35)   
 

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PAUL FERRIER SLIPS BACK WITH THIRD ROUND IN USA

Former Scottish boys champion Paul Ferrier, recently made an honorary member of Baberton Golf Club, is lying T44 on two-over-par 218 with one round to go in the E-Golf Pro Tour's Palmetto Hall Champiosnhip at Plantation Club, Hilton Head Island.
Rookie pro Ferrier, 23, has had rounds of 70, 72 and 76.
Twice past Scottish youths champion Joel Hendry, from Elgin but a resident of the United States for quite some years now, failed by three shots to make the halfway cut.
Hendry had scores of 72 and 77 for 149.

LEADERBOARD
Par 216 (3x72)
202 Matt Hendrik (US) 68 67 67

SELECTED SCORES
213 Fergal Rafferty (Northern Ireland) 70 68 75 (T11)
217 Seamus Power (Ireland) 73 72 72 (T37)
218 Paul Ferrier (Scotland) 70 72 76, Thomas Curtis (England) 66 74 78 (T44)
230 Jake Amos (England) 71 75 84 (77th).

MISSED THE CUT (146 and better qualified)
147 Lee Heaton (England) 72 75
148 Joel Hendry (Scotland) 72 77         

USGA TO SCRAP PUBLIC-LINKS CHAMPIONSHIPS AFTER 2014

FROM THE GOLFWEEK WEBSITE
By SEAN MARTIN
An unprecedented move by the U.S. Golf Association will end a pair of national tournaments that lost their uniqueness some time ago.
The USGA’s two championships for public-links players will cease after 2014, replaced by two national championships for a format new to the national scene: the U.S. Amateur Four-Ball Championship and U.S. Women’s Amateur Four-Ball Championship, which will begin in 2015.
The U.S. Amateur Public Links and U.S. Women’s Amateur Public Links are the first USGA championships to be retired, according to John Bodenhamer, the association’s managing director, rules, competitions and equipment standards.
“It has been clear for some time that the APL and WAPL no longer serve their original purpose,” Bodenhamer said in an email to Golfweek.
The APL, started in 1922, is the USGA’s fourth-oldest championship. The WAPL dates to 1977. Many will theorize that the championships’ demise was caused by college players’ domination, which minimized the everyman appeal of a championship created for truck drivers, teachers and the like. Bodenhamer said the fields’ demographics weren’t the “primary” factor to pull the plug.
Instead, it was the 1979 decision to open all USGA championships to public-links players. That’s also when the USGA first considered ending the Publinks, he said.
“We kept coming back to the same place, which recognized that the barriers that necessitated the creation of these championships no longer existed, and that all players today have equal access to all USGA amateur championships,” Bodenhamer said.
Past participants contacted by Golfweek expressed regret at the championships’ demise.
“I appreciated that event because golf is looked at as a white-collar sport,” Hunter Mahan said.
Added Chez Reavie, the 2001 champion: “It’s too bad a lot of kids aren’t going to have the opportunity to play their way into the Masters. It’s too bad that they’re going to replace it with a four-ball tournament.”
The elimination of the men’s APL means one less Masters invitation to be handed out each year. Augusta National Golf Club has expressed concerns about the size of the Masters field.
It’s unlikely the four-ball championship, because of its team format, will result in major-championship invitations. Team formats are less popular in the U.S. than abroad, but four-ball events are conducted in all 50 states and the District of Columbia, according to the USGA. Entry into the national championship is open to individuals with a USGA Handicap Index of 5.4 or lower for men and 14.4 for women. Teammates do not need to be from the same club, state or country.
The fields of the men’s and women’s events will consist of 128 and 64 teams, respectively. Thirty-two teams will advance to match play after 36 holes of stroke play. The events will be held between mid-March and May. These dates could deter college and high-school students from participating. Those are the same groups that contributed to the Publinks’ end. 
The USGA is not lamenting the loss, though. Instead, it plans to celebrate the tournaments’ legacy.
Said Bodenhamer: “We will also celebrate the fact that the barriers that necessitated their creation no longer exist, which we believe to be a very good thing.”

FLOYD THINKS TOO MANY UNWORTHY PLAYERS NOW GET INTO HALL OF GAME

FROM GOLF CHANNEL.COM
By WILL GRAY 
A member of the World Golf Hall of Fame since 1989, Raymond Floyd now believes the criteria for induction should be changed to prevent "unworthy" players from entering.
"The bar has been lowered. Guys get voted into the Hall of Fame who don't belong, who lack the numbers," he explained in a wide-ranging interview with Golf Magazine for their March 2013 issue. "I'm very upset at the Hall of Fame for that. It's not fair to the people who went in early."
A four-time major winner, Floyd focused his comments on recent years, namely the upcoming group in line for induction. The 2013 Hall of Fame class includes both Fred Couples, who counts one major among his 15 career US PGA Tour wins, and Colin Montgomerie, who failed to record a major victory during his career and who is not rated Hall of Game standard by a lot of American pundits.
"Just look at the inductees over the last six, eight, 10 years," Floyd added. "Some years, I don't even vote because the names are not worthy of induction. One major should not get you into the Hall of Fame - maybe one major and 40 wins."
Players added to the Hall of Fame in recent years include Bob Charles and Lanny Wadkins, who both won one professional major during their careers and were inducted in 2008 and 2009, respectively.
 As he continued, Floyd made clear where he felt the line of demarcation should rest when determining a player's worthiness for induction.
"I'll just say that you should have at least two majors. At least," he explained. "Wow, there are guys in there that it's a joke. It takes integrity away from the term 'Hall of Fame.'"
Later in the interview, the 70-year-old added his name to the list of players, both past and present, who have made their opinion known about the U.S. Golf Association's proposed ban on anchored putting strokes.
"It would not be good for golf," Floyd said of the ban. "Golf is a game, and games are meant to be enjoyed."

FICHARDT, VAN ZYL TAKE OVER AT TOP IN AFRICA OPEN

FROM THE EUROPEAN TOUR WEBSITE
The odds of a fourth successive South African taking the Africa Open title shortened considerably as Darren Fichardt and Jaco Van Zyl took over at the top of the leaderboard on day three in East London.
Fichardt shot a fine 65 to reach 15 under par, and Van Zyl scrambled par at the last two holes to join him with a 68.
Halfway leader Adilson Da Silva slipped to third, two shots back, with a one over par 73; his efforts undermined somewhat by a triple bogey seven at the eighth.
Low scoring initially looked to be the order of the day, as the likes of Emiliano Grillo (64) and Jorge Campillo (63) swept through the field, before the wind got up and prevented the leaders breaking clear.
Brazilian Da Silva resumed with a three shot advantage and when he fired a fantastic second to eight feet at the long third and sunk the eagle putt he was four ahead of Van Zyl.
Fichardt was already off to a flyer by that stage – birdieing four of his first eight and holing a 20 foot putt for eagle at the third.
Van Zyl’s work on the front nine was more sedate, with gains coming at the third, sixth and seventh.
It was at the eighth that the title race blew wide open. Da Silva drove into a bunker, required two attempts to get out, then duffed his fourth from the centre of the fairway into more sand by the green, before two putting for a 7.
That left Fichardt and Van Zyl leading the way, and although the former dropped shots at the ninth and 17th a hat-trick of birdies from the 13th ensured parity was retained on the back nine.
“The wind certainly picked up,” said Fichardt.
“It didn’t feel like it in the fairways which are in little valleys, but it built up and made a difference.”
St Omer Open winner Fichardt is the only one of the top three with a European Tour title under his belt, but was refusing to get carried away ahead of the final round.
“I’ll play one hole at a time, one shot at a time,” he added.
“I know Jaco is going for his first win, but he’s going to have to get through me first.”
Van Zyl has had 12 top-ten finishes without winning on The European Tour, but was pleased with the way he held onto his score as the gusts strengthened late in the day.
“I just wanted to make par and get out of there,” he said. “In the end you take what you can. It would have been nice being 25 under par, but I’ll take 15 and see what tomorrow brings.”
France’s Gregory Bourdy lies fourth after a 67 moved him to 12 under par, with Argentina’s Grillo a shot further back in fifth.

THIRD-ROUND TOTALS Par 216 (3x72) 201 D Fichardt (RSA) 69 67 65, J Van Zyl (RSA) 66 67 68 203 A Da Silva (Bra) 62 68 73, 204 G Bourdy (Fra) 70 67 67, 205 E Grillo (Arg) 70 71 64, 206 M Tullo (Chi) 69 69 68, T Van Der Walt (RSA) 70 68 68, J Campillo (Esp) 73 70 63, 207 D Botes (RSA) 74 67 66, R Santos  (Por) 71 66 70, D Higgins (Irl) 70 68 69, M Madsen  (Den) 71 69 67, J Parry (Eng) 68 66 73, 208 G Mulroy (RSA) 72 67 69, O Bekker (RSA) 69 67 72, L Gagli  (Ita) 73 69 66, 209 J Kingston (RSA) 69 71 69, P Price (Wal) 69 74 66, M Korhonen (Fin) 70 73 66, A Sullivan (Eng) 70 70 69, B Rumford (Aus) 71 70 68, 210 M Kieffer (Ger) 71 72 67, K Horne (RSA) 76 68 66, N Fasth (Swe) 72 71 67, T Fisher Jnr (RSA) 72 69 69, T Fleetwood  (Eng) 69 72 69, L Slattery (Eng) 74 68 68, C Coetzee  (RSA) 73 70 67, S Benson (Eng) 71 71 68, T Aiken (RSA) 74 70 66, 211 B Åkesson (Swe) 70 70 71, A Curlewis (RSA) 69 73 69, J Moore  (USA) 76 67 68, I Garrido (Esp) 69 72 70, U Van Den Berg  (RSA) 71 68 72, T Mordt  (RSA) 71 69 71, E Pepperell (Eng) 77 67 67, A Levy (Fra) 73 66 72, M Nixon (Eng) 77 67 67, 212 L Rowe  (RSA) 74 67 71, M Baldwin (Eng) 74 70 68, C Paisley  (Eng) 73 70 69, D Van Tonder  (RSA) 73 71 68, R Derksen (Ned) 72 72 68, S Wakefield (Eng) 70 73 69, C Doak (Sco) 74 67 71, J Walters (RSA) 72 71 69, D Drysdale (Sco) 74 67 71, A Kaleka  (Fra) 72 67 73, 213 W Abery (RSA) 73 71 69, M Bremner (RSA) 72 71 70, R McGowan  (Eng) 73 69 71, L De Jager  (RSA) 72 71 70, D McGuigan (RSA) 78 66 69, D Ferreira (RSA) 69 70 74, J Morrison  (Eng) 72 72 69, L Jensen (Den) 72 69 72, T Moore (RSA) 74 70 69, 214 P Erofejeff (Fin) 73 68 73, M Delpodio  (Ita) 72 68 74, A Marshall (Eng) 75 66 73, J Luiten (Ned) 74 67 73, B Pieters (RSA) 76 68 70, 215 J Kruger (RSA) 73 71 71, A Hartø  (Den) 72 72 71, V Groenewald (RSA) 71 73 71, R Strauss (RSA) 71 71 73, C Basson (RSA) 72 68 75, D Greene (RSA) 70 74 71,  216 M Jonzon (Swe) 69 74 73, A Tadini (Ita) 71 73 72, J Roos (RSA) 72 72 72, A Snobeck  (Fra) 72 71 73,  217 M Carlsson  (Swe) 73 70 74, W Coetsee (RSA) 69 73 75,  219 J Ahlers (RSA) 71 73 75,  220 C Cévaër (Fra) 74 70 76,  225 M Williams (RSA) 73 71 81

European Tour Partners

MURRAY HAS THREE SHOTS TO MAKE UP ON FINAL DAY IN KENYA

CHALLENGE TOUR REPORT 

FROM NEIL AHERN, European Tour Press Officer

George Murray still harbours hopes of a first European Challenge 

Tour victory since 2010 despite staying stagnant on moving day 

at the Barclays Kenya Open with a level par 71.

That left the Anstruther man in tied third position alongside American 

Brooks Koepka and three shots off the lead set by Tim Sluiter and 

Jordi Garcia Pinto at Karen Country Club, outside Nairobi.

“I played pretty average today,” said Murray, whose sole victory on 

the Challenge Tour came at the Scottish Hydro Challenge three years 

ago.

“I just never really got going at all. I birdied the second and bogeyed 

the fourth with a wedge in my hand, which was poor. I hit a six iron 

into 12 foot at the fifth and holed that and then bogeyed the sixth with 

a nine iron in my hand.

“I hit it stiff at the tenth from 112 yards which was nice but I didn’t give myself any chances until the 15^th. I thought I had holed my 

bunker shot but it took an awful bounce and went eight feet past and 

I missed that putt.

“It was more stupidity than anything else today. It’s not done yet though. Hopefully I can go and shoot six or seven under tomorrow and maybe I’ll have a chance.

“If I stick to my game plan and putt well, it’s possible. If I try and be 

too aggressive tomorrow though it will definitely hurt me so I’ll just 

try and hit better approach shots in and give myself a few more 

chances.”

Three Scots were two shots further back on five under par as David 

Law (71), Andrew McArthur (67) and Raymond Russell (72) shared 

sixth spot with England’s Sam Hutsby.

Garcia Pinto and Sluiter, meanwhile, will put their friendship aside 

when they battle it out in the final group on Championship Sunday.

After a mammoth tussle on moving day, the Spaniard’s three under 

par 68 elevated him to the top alongside Sluiter of The Netherlands 

on ten under par, three shots clear of the chasing pack.

Sluiter, the overnight leader after the second round, managed to maintain his grip on the top spot thanks to a birdie at the last which helped him to a two under par 69.

It was only a spectacular monster putt which separated the two 

young stars - who have been friends since their youth - on day three 

as Garcia Pinto brought cheers of elation from the local crowds by rolling in a birdie putt at the par three 16^th from all of 60 feet.

THIRD-ROUND SCOREBOARD

Par 213 (3x71)

203 T Sluiter  (Ned) 69 65 69, J Garcia Pinto (Esp) 69 66 68

206 B Koepka  (USA) 70 68 68, G Murray  (Sco) 68 67 71

207 A Otaegui  (Esp) 67 72 68

208 R Russell (Sco) 67 69 72, S Hutsby  (Eng) 68 70 70, A McArthur  (Sco) 68 73 67, D Law (Sco) 68 69 71

209 E Dubois (Fra) 71 69 69, C Brazillier  (Fra) 69 71 69, D Frittelli (RSA) 71 70 68

210 W Besseling  (Ned) 69 70 71, J Dantorp (Swe) 74 69 67, P Oriol (Esp) 70 70 70, B Ritthammer (Ger) 73 71 66, L Bjerregaard  (Den) 70 72 68, J Senior (Eng) 72 66 72, S Garcia Rodriguez (Esp) 72 71 67

211 D Vancsik (Arg) 73 69 69, T Fournier  (Fra) 72 68 71, T Hatton (Eng) 69 69 73, M Crespi  (Ita) 71 68 72, D Odhiambo  (Ken) 71 69 71, J Lima  (Por) 70 68 73, F Laporta (Ita) 77 66 68, G Snow  (Ken) 68 71 72, N Floren (Swe) 73 69 69

212 S Tiley (Eng) 74 68 70, A Pavan (Ita) 70 67 75, J Legarrea (Esp) 72 69 71

213 C Aguilar  (Esp) 71 72 70, D Denison  (Eng) 71 69 73, H Bacher (Aut) 66 76 71, A Velasco (Esp) 72 70 71, W Booth  (Sco) 75 67 71, G Stal  (Fra) 70 71 72, D Kemmer (USA) 70 72 71

214 P Uihlein  (USA) 69 71 74, B An (Kor) 69 72 73, P Archer (Eng) 69 69 76, C Suneson (Esp) 74 70 70, M Sell  (Eng) 73 71 70, J Fahrbring (Swe) 70 74 70, D Griffiths  (Eng) 75 69 70, K Timbe  (Ken) 72 71 71

215 T Murray (Eng) 67 76 72, M Muthiya  (Zam) 72 72 71, J Moul  (Eng) 71 73 71, C Hanson (Eng) 75 67 73

216 J Barnes (Eng) 71 69 76, M Ford (Eng) 68 73 75, B Hebert  (Fra) 70 72 74

217 P Dwyer (Eng) 74 70 73, J Ruth  (Eng) 71 71 75, J Huldahl (Den) 71 73 73, F Colombo (Ita) 73 69 75, N Ngugi (Ken) 70 74 73, V Riu  (Fra) 71 72 74, R Enoch  (Wal) 75 69 73

218 B Njoroge  (Ken) 73 71 74, D Im (USA) 71 69 78

 

EUROPEAN TOUR COMMUNICATIONS

PAUL LAWRIE MADE HONORARY MEMBER AT KEMNAY - HIS FIRST GOLF CLUB

FROM TODAY'S ABERDEEN PRESS AND JOURNAL

By PAUL THIRD
Paul Lawrie was back where it all began yesterday as he was given honorary membership of Kemnay Golf Club.
The 1999 Open champion lived at Kemnay as a boy and attended the local primary school at Alehousewells before moving on to Kemnay Academy.
Lawrie said: "This was my first golf club, so to be given an honorary membership is a huge honour.
"I was a junior member here. We lived outside the village and I used to bike here after school with the clubs in the bag on my back, just like every other junior
It was a nine-hole course back then but it's changed drastically since those days. Today it is a fabulous facility and I've played in a few pro-am teams here in recent years." 
In addition to receiving honorary membership, Ryder Cup player Lawrie also officially opened Kemnay Golf Club's new 18th hole.
Lawrie, who flies out to Phoenix, Arizona today for the Accenture match-play championship, which begins on Wednesday, said:

"The course is really nice. The new 18th hole is much better too, as it used to be close to the road. They have done a great job here. I  don't have a lot of time to play a lot of golf when I come home.
"I spend a lot of time hitting balls and I have my work with the Foundation but if I have some free time, I'll pop out to Kemnay for sure."       
During his visit to Kemnay Golf Club, Lawrie also hit the first official shot in club professional David Brown's new indoor teaching studio. 

LANGER LEADS BY THREE IN ACE GROUP SENIORS' CLASSIC

FROM THE ESPN.COM WEBSITE
NAPLES, Florida -- Bernhard Langer holed out from the fairway for an eagle on the par-4 10th and finished with a 10-under 62 on Friday to take a three-stroke in the Champions Tour's ACE Group Classic.
Langer hit a 9-iron from 141 yards that went right in the cup on the 10th.
"Just heard a lot of noise when it hit the flag and cup," he said. "Sometimes they bounce out and go all over the place, but this one stayed in, so that was nice."

ACE Group Classic Leaderboard

1.    Langer (-10)
2  .  Tway (-7)
T-3. Pernice junior (-6)
T-3. Blake (-6)
T-3. Huston (-6)
T-6. Four tied at -5

• Complete scores
 

Langer had three birdies on the front nine on TwinEagles' Talon Course, then played the back nine in 7-under 29 with the eagle and five birdies -- including four in a row on Nos. 13-16.
Langer got off to a slow start with four straight pars, but was hitting the ball well.
"It was just a matter of being patient, and it can happen in golf," he said.
Langer needed an eagle and birdie on the last two holes to get to 59, and eagled No. 17 all three times he played it last year.
"I was thinking even though it's wet and the course is playing much longer, if I really hit a great tee shot down there, might get there (in two) with a 3-wood, but slightly mis-hit my tee shot, and that was just about 10 yards too far away to go for it," he said.
The 55-year-old German star, a 16-time winner on the 50-and-over tour, won the event in 2011 at The Quarry.
Bob Tway was second after a 65, and Tom Pernice junior, Jay Don Blake and John Huston shot 66.
Tway, who has had two top-10 finishes in his last 44 events, spent the offseason working on his short game.
"I haven't been very pleased with how I've been playing, so I spent a lot of time at it," he said.
Light rain fell throughout the morning, with a brief heavier shower. A cold front was expected to come through Saturday and kick up wind to 15 to 20 mph, with high temperatures in the low 60s Sunday.