Lowery hangs on to narrow lead

Shortly after Paul Stankowski moved into the lead in the Kemper Insurance Open, he moved behind a tree.

Stankowski, who had birdied the two previous holes to go 11-under par, hooked his tee shot behind a tree at the par-4 15th. He told his caddie he was going to play it safe and just pitch the ball back to the fairway -- but then that green started looking awfully inviting.

"My caddie and I talked about it," Stankowski said. "He thought the play was to lay up. I thought the play was to lay up. I said, OK, either way I would have used the same club. I got over it and I got back in my stance a little bit, and he's like -- 'Oh, gosh, he's going to go for it.' "

Stankowski's 9-iron shot hit the tree and dropped in the rough. The next shot landed in a bunker. The hole mercifully ended with a double-bogey, knocking him off the top of the leaderboard.

Stankowski redeemed himself somewhat at the par-3 17th with the best shot of the day, a 7-iron tee shot that landed inches from the pin. He finished with a 3-under 68 Saturday for a 10-under 203 total, one shot behind leader Steve Lowery.

Stankowski explained his risky shot by saying he's an "aggressive player" and that he would do it again. Then again, maybe not.

"I should have pitched out," said Stankowski, seeking his first tour victory since the 1997 Hawaiian Open. "If it was on Sunday, I would not have hit that shot."

Lowery had an eventful back nine, with two tough saves for par in round of 70 and an 11-under 202 total. He was just the tip of a hodgepodge of a leaderboard that shifted with nearly every hole over the last two hours of the day. Franklin Langham was tied with Stankowski for second, with Tom Scherrer and Justin Leonard two strokes off the lead.

"Anything's possible," Stankowski said. "Someone could shoot 63 in a heartbeat here tomorrow and come from behind."

The weather was cooler and comfortable after Friday's unbearably humid day. Low scores were routine -- except from the four golfers who led the field after the second round. Leonard, Lowery's playing partner in the last grouping, managed a par 71 in front of a poor-behaving gallery.

Spectators routinely walked off before Lowery putted, and he was distracted by noisy sunbathers at the 7th. Leonard had to back off a putt at the 18th and pointed at someone in the gallery. He then approached the gallery and spoke to the distracting spectator before walking off the green.

"There's going to be some people making noise and some people who maybe forget there's a tournament going on," Leonard said.

In the next-to-last group, Chris DiMarco fell back with a 76 to a 209 total, and Donnie Hammond shot a 74 for a 207 total. They had a different kind of disruption -- a deer ran across the green while they were at the 11th.

With no big rounds from the leaders, there was room for others to charge into contention.

Langham shot a 66, including a 25-birdie putt at the 16th. Scherrer shot a 69. Both are seeking their first PGA Tour victories at a tournament known for its first-time winners. Both have second-place finishes this year, with Langham getting a runner-up check after blowing a six-shot lead to Jim Furyk with eight holes to play at the Doral Ryder Open in March.

There were other great rounds. Casey Martin, who tied a tournament record with five consecutive birdies Friday before a rough back nine, double-bogeyed the 4th, then went 6 under the rest of the way. He shot a 67 to move with in four shots of the lead.

Stuart Appleby, who won here two years ago, shot a 64 after barely making the cut. He is 6-under, five shots off the lead.

Lowery, whose only tour victory came in the 1994 Sprint International, made eight pars and one birdie on the front nine. At the 10th, where the pin was placed precariously close to the creek, he aimed for the hole and landed on the steep far bank. He somehow chipped to 6 feet and saved par.

Two holes later, Lowery pulled his tee shot into the rough at the course's toughest hole. He laid up to the left of the green, chipped close to the pin and saved par.

Lowery again found the rough at the 13th and bogeyed the par 5, but got the stroke back at the 15th with a 15-foot birdie putt.

For the second week in a row, Lowery will be in the final group of the final round of a tournament. Last week, however, he was with Tiger Woods -- and Woods had a six-stroke lead.

"A much better position this week," Lowery said. "There was no way I could go out and take it away from him with a six-shot lead. I just feel like I've got to take care of my game. ... I've got to play a little more aggressive."

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