The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Dufner poised again for 1st win
Jason Dufner shot a 5-under 67 on Saturday to take a twostroke lead over Graham DeLaet after the third round of the Zurich Classic.
Winless in 163 starts on the PGA Tour, Dufner lost playoffs last year to Mark Wilson in the Phoenix Open and Keegan Bradley in the PGA Championship for two of his three career runner-up finishes. The former Auburn star had a 17-under 199 total at TPC Louisiana in Avondale.
Trying to overcome a recent string of weekend collapses, Dufner birdied three of the first four holes to get to 15 under, holing a 50-foot putt on the par-4 fourth and a 25-footer on the par-4 fifth.
After dropping a stroke on the par-4 sixth, he birdied the par-5 seventh and got to 17 under with birdies on the par-4 15th and par-5 18th. He has played the 18th in 4 under in three days.
Delaet, from Canada, shot a 66. He birdied three of the final six holes.
Ernie Els and John Rollins were 14 under. Els shot a 68, and Rollins had a 69.
Ryan Palmer tied the course record with a 64 to join Steve Stricker and Cameron Tringale at 13 under. Tringale (Georgia Tech) had a 68, and Stricker a 69.
Second-ranked Luke Donald was 12 under after a 66. He needs to finish at least solo seventh to regain the top spot from Rory Mcilroy.
Defending champion Bubba Watson, playing in his first tournament since winning the Masters, was 9 under after a 65. The former Georgia Bulldog opened with consecutive 71s to make the cut by a stroke.
Stacy Lewis birdied five of her last seven holes to shoot a 5-under 67 and take a twostroke lead over Brittany Linci- come into the final round of the Mobile Bay LPGA Classic.
Lewis, the 2011 Kraft Nabisco winner, finished strong again to hang onto her second-round lead. Karine Icher of France shot a 68 and is three strokes back while Sun Young Yoo and Lindsey Wright both had 69s and are at 10 under.
Six others, including 17-yearold Floridian Lexi Thompson, are within five shots of Lewis’ 14-under 202 total on The Crossings course at the Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail’s Magnolia Grove complex.
Ringgold’s Luke List and Woody Austin were tied at 12under par after three rounds of the South Georgia Classic on the Nationwide Tour. Austin’s 64 Saturday on the Kinderlou Forest Golf Club in Valdosta was the tournament’s low round. … Bernd Wiesberger of Austria shot a second straight 7-under 65 to open a five-shot lead after the third round of the Ballantine’s Championship in South Korea.
Ryan James, 19, a sophomore from Berry College’s cross country team won the first marathon he entered, finishing a time of 2:32:50 at the at the St. Jude Country Music Half Marathon in Nashville. A cut in the cash prize to $1,000 limited the number of elite runners. Erin Sutton, 24, of Woodstock, also won her marathon debut with a time of 2:54: 16. Singer Sheryl Crow joined more than 30,000 runners in her first half-marathon.