Kevin Streelman figured a good round Saturday would at least get him in the mix at the Tampa Bay Championship.
It wound up giving him a share of the lead.
Adam Scott and K.J. Choi led a surprising retreat at Innisbrook, allowing for a wild game of musical chairs atop the leaderboard with nothing remotely close to being settled going into the final round today. Sixteen players are separated by three shots.
Streelman finished his 6-under 65 nearly three hours before the last group finished.
Justin Leonard ran off four birdies in a five-hole stretch around the turn and had the lead before a bogey from the bunker on the 15th. He shot a 67.
George Coetzee bounced back from his lone bogey with a birdie on the 17th hole, giving him a 68. They were tied at 6-under 207.
Shawn Stefani, the 31-year-old rookie who led the first two rounds, had a 74 and was two shots behind.
The group one shot out of the lead includes 2010 winner Jim Furyk (67) and Ben Kohles (69), who last summer went from college to two straight wins on the Web.com Tour to earn a spot in the big leagues.
Tacoma’s Troy Kelly shot a 1 over par 73 and is tied for 50th place at 2-over 215.
MIAZATO PULLS AHEAD
Japan’s Ai Miyazato made three birdies in four holes and shot a 5-under 67 to pull ahead going into the final round of the LPGA Founders Cup in Phoenix.
At 19-under 197, she leads American Stacy Lewis by two strokes.
Lewis birdied the last hole at Desert Ridge’s Wildfire layout for a 66.
The third-ranked Lewis, coming off a victory two weeks ago in Singapore, is in position to take the top spot in the world from Yani Tseng with a win today, as long as Tseng — tied for 63rd at 2 under after a 72 — finishes third or worse.
COUPLES CHASES FROST
David Frost shot a 5-under 66 and kept his one-stroke lead over Fred Couples in the Champions Tour’s Toshiba Classic in Newport Beach, Calif. He punctuated his round with an eagle at No. 18 at Newport Beach Country Club for a two-round total of 13-under 129.
ELSEWHERE
South African Thomas Aiken shot a 10-under 62 to take a three-shot lead in the Avantha Masters after three rounds in Greater Noida, India, at 18-under 198. … Brazil’s Lucas Lee shot a 7-under 65 to take a one-shot lead after three rounds of the Thailand Open in Bangkok at 19-under 197.
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