Players struggle in tough conditions

For a second consecutive day, three players are tied at the top of the leaderboard at the Buy.com Hershey Open. Pat Bates, Paul Claxton and Paul Gow share the lead at three-under-par 210 after Saturday's third-round.

Only seven golfers are under par after 54 holes. Jay Hobby and Todd Demsey each posted two-under-par 69s and share second place at two-under, while Mike Grob and Shane Bertsch shot 69 and 70, respectively, to finish two shots off the lead at minus-one.

Bates, who posted a two-under 69 on Saturday, feels that focus and commitment on every shot helps him get through the challenging East Course at the Country Club of Hershey, which ranked as the toughest on the Buy.com Tour in 1999.

"I finished poorly at Dayton and from that point on I have been working hard mentally on my game," stated Bates, who has two career wins on this tour -- the 1994 Dakota Dunes Open and the 1997 Colorado Classic. "I'm out there thinking much better. It's easy to say 100 percent focus but not a lot of guys can do it and I've had trouble doing it."

Bates parred the opening two holes before making bogey at the third, dropping him to even-par for the tournament. He rebounded with three birdies over the next four holes and finished the front in 34. Bates held sole possession of the lead after a birdie at the 10th until a bogey at the 17th dropped him into the tie.

Claxton, a co-leader at the mid-point of the tournament, carded a one-under 70 in the third round. On his front-nine, Claxton made two bogeys and two birdies, and followed that up with one birdie and eight pars on the back.

"There are a lot of players who are used to being aggressive and making a lot of birdies and they come to a course like this, where par is a good score, there are not that many birdies and they don't enjoy it as much," noted Claxton, whose highest finish in a Buy.com Tour event was second at the 1995 Permian Basin Open.

Gow, like Claxton, was a co-leader after Friday's play and maintained his share of the lead with a one-under 70 on Saturday. His round started off strong with back-to-back birdies on the fifth and sixth holes. Gow went on to bogey the ninth and 11th before making birdie at the 14th to join the logjam atop the leaderboard.

Bobby Wadkins and Patrick Burke are at even-par 213, three strokes from the leaders.

John Reigger, the co-leader with Claxton and Gow after 36 holes, shot a seven-over 78 on Saturday to fall into a tie for 27th.

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