Times wires
Saturday, June 11, 2011
MEMPHIS, Tenn. — With 18 holes left, too much golf remains for Robert Karlsson to worry about a couple of late bogeys.
Karlsson looked ready to run away from the field Saturday, leading by five strokes on the back nine at the St. Jude Classic. The Swede closed with his only bogeys of the day and finished with 2-under 68 that dropped him to 11-under 199, one stroke ahead of Harrison Frazar through three rounds in this final U.S. Open tuneup.
"I'm very, very happy with where I am at the moment. I mean you're going to make a mistake here and there," Karlsson said.
"Just keep doing what I'm doing. I mean it's a 72-hole golf tournament. It's a long, long way to go still, and … I'm very happy with where I'm standing and let's go from there."
Frazar said he thought Karlsson was in total control, so he focused only on playing. He got hot and birdied three of his final four holes to finish with 64 that got him to 10 under. That included rolling in a 42-footer for birdie on No. 18 on a similar line to a putt he had last year.
John Merrick (67) is third, followed by Retief Goosen.
LPGA: Top-ranked Yani Tseng shot her second straight 6-under 66 to take a one-stroke lead over Mindy Kim in the State Farm Classic in Springfield, Ill.
Tseng reached 17-under 199, birdieing all four of Panther Creek's par 5s in her bogey-free round. Kim, the leader after two rounds, bogeyed the final hole for 69.
Seminole's Brittany Lincicome, coming off a victory Sunday in New Jersey, shot 66 to join Shanshan Feng (69) at 14 under. Lincicome birdied five of the first eight holes. "I was happy to be 3 under though four holes. I wanted to stop then," she said. "I'd have taken 69."
CHAMPIONS: Bob Tway, the overnight leader, fired 5-under 67 to move to 14-under 130 and keep a one-shot lead over Tommy Armour III in the Greater Hickory Classic in Conover, N.C. One more low round on a hot, humid weekend at Rock Barn and Tway could capture his first victory on the 50-and-over circuit. "Of course, you should be a little nervous. That's why you do it," Tway, 52, said.
Tiger not in Open but caddie is: Steve Williams, who has been the caddie for 13 of Tiger Woods' major championships, was working with Adam Scott at Congressional in preparation for this week's U.S. Open. They were together Saturday during a practice round at the course outside of Washington, D.C. Woods withdrew from the Open on Tuesday because of lingering injuries to his left leg.