NAPA, Calif. (AP) - Johnson Wagner chipped in for birdie, and wound up taking a one-shot lead in the Safeway Open by keeping bogeys off his card as the rain began to pound Silverado on Saturday.
Wagner was at 15-under par through 15 holes when the third round was halted by the wet conditions. The course was playing so long and tough at that point that Wagner hit a driver and a fairway metal and still had a 9-iron for his third shot.
Scott Piercy, who had led from his opening 62 that set the course record, was one shot behind and just short of the par-5 16th in three shots when he told officials he couldn’t continue. The front of the green was one big puddle, and it wasn’t getting any better. Patton Kizzire also was 14 under through 16 holes.
Paul Casey, in the final group with Wagner and Piercy, was two shots behind. Casey hit a tee shot on the par-5 fifth hole that clipped a tree, ricocheted somewhere and was never found, costing him two shots.
Phil Mickelson hit a wild tee shot on the par-5 18th in the rain and made bogey for a 69, leaving him six back.
They were still in the game, mainly because of the rain. Shots became longer. Putts became more difficult to hole. The players still on the course, which included Martin Laird at 12 under through 16 holes, were to return Sunday morning. Starting times for the final round already have been pushed well forward because of more rain in the forecast.
INCHEON, South Korea (AP) - Alison Lee took a three-stroke lead in the LPGA KEB HanaBank Championship, putting the 21-year-old UCLA student in position for her first victory.
Lee shot a 4-under 68 in calm and firm conditions Sky 72, saving par on 17 and birdieing 18 to stretch her margin over U.S. Women’s Open champion Brittany Lang, her U.S. Solheim Cup teammate.
Playing her second season on the tour while remaining in college, Lee had a 13-under 203 total on the Jack Nicklaus-designed Ocean Course. She also had a three-stroke lead after an opening 65, and began the day a stroke behind Lang after a second-round 70.
Lang followed her second-round 65 with a 72.
Lee rebounded from a bogey on the par-4 14th to birdie the 15th. A day after chipping in for eagle on the short par 4, she hit a full approach that tracked across the green to 4 feet of the back pin.
After missing a 7-foot birdie putt on the par-4 16th, she got an 8-foot comebacker to drop for par on the par-3 17th. She made a 4-footer on the par-5 18th.
South Korea’s In-Kyung Kim, the winner two weeks ago in China in the first of six straight events in Asia, was third at 9 under after a 69. She also won a Ladies European Tour event in Germany last month.
Spain’s Carlota Ciganda had a 69 to reach 8 under, and Kerr’s 72 left her at 7 under with Taiwan’s Candie Kung (69) and South Korea’s Min-Sun Kim.
SAS CHAMPIONSHIP
CARY, N.C. (AP) - Bernhard Langer birdied the final four holes for his second straight 5-under 67 and a two-stroke lead in the PGA Tour Champions’ SAS Championship.
Langer had a bogey-free round at Prestonwood in the regular-season finale. The 59-year-old German star leads the tour with four victories and earnings of $2,512,659. He won the 2012 event and tied for third the last two years.
Larry Mize and first-round leader Doug Garwood were tied for second at 8 under. Mize had a 69, and Garwood followed his opening 65 with a 72.
Jeff Sluman (67) and Senior British Open winner Paul Broadhurst (69) were 7 under.
The top 72 players on the money list after the tournament - and one player in the top 10 in the event but outside the top 72 for the season - will get spots in the Charles Schwab Cup Playoffs opener - the PowerShares QQQ Championship at Sherwood in Thousand Oaks, California, on Oct. 28-30.
BRITISH MASTERS
WATFORD, England (AP) - Sweden’s Alex Noren moved into position for his third European Tour victory of the year, shooting his second straight 6-under 65 to take a three-stroke lead.
Noren made a 45-foot birdie putt on the final hole to reach 16-under 197 at The Grove. He won the Scottish Open and European Masters.
England’s Richard Bland was second after a 69.
MACAU OPEN
MACAU (AP) - Anirban Lahiri and Indian countryman S. Chikkarangappa each shot 2-under 69 to share the third-round lead in the Asian Tour’s Macau Open.
They were at 10-under 203 at Macau Golf and Country Club. Lahiri won the 2014 event.
England’s Ian Poulter, tied for the first-round lead at 64 in is return from a four-month break, was tied for 14th at 5 under after a 71. He was sidelined by an arthritic joint in his right foot.
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