Isenhour shoots course record to lead

Tripp Isenhour could do no wrong on Saturday as he fired a course-record, 8-under-par 64 to seize the lead entering the final round of the $400,000 BUY.COM Mississippi Gulf Coast Open.

Don Reese, who shot 67 Saturday, and John Elliott (70) moved to within one shot of Isenhour while Donnie Hammond (73) is in third, two shots back. Ken Green (70), Manny Zerman (70), Briny Baird (71), Sonny Skinner (67), Tim Clark (73) and Chris Smith (73) round out the leaderboard heading into Sunday’s final round at the 6,885 yard The Oaks Golf Club.

Isenhour's 64 moved him from a tie for 43rd into sole possession of first place. He began the day in the last group to make the cut at 1-over-par after shooting a second-round 75.

Isenhour made birdie on his first four holes Saturday and built on that momentum -- never dropping a shot to par all day. He has played well at the BUY.COM Mississippi Gulf Coast Open in the past -- finishing 15th last year after finding himself one shot out of the lead at the midway point.

"After that kind of start it kept snowballing and I hit good shots," said Isenhour, who has a tournament-high 17 birdies. "I have been hitting good shots all week. After two weeks off, I was a little bit rusty and hopefully I’ve shaken some of the rust off and am able to keep it going tomorrow.

"Golf’s strange. Tomorrow the clubs might feel different than they felt today. Today they felt good. That’s just the way it is. This is a tough golf course to shoot that kind of score but if you give yourself the opportunities and make the putts, (it's possible)."

Reese, who won the 1991 Lake City Classic, also got off to a good start, shooting a 34 on the front nine after making three consecutive birdies.

"Can’t ask for more than that," Reese said. "I like my position. I hung tough today and things worked out."

Reese's only mistake of the day was a bogey on the ninth hole when his approach shot found the rough to the right of the green and he was unable to get it up and down. A trio of back-nine birdies then moved him to 6 under and there could have been more -- but a 12-footer for birdie on the 17th hole hung on the lip.

"I really thought I made that but that’s golf," Reese said. "When it’s going your way they drop and I had a few drop today so I am pleased.

Elliott was aided by a chart that helped him maneuver through winds that gusted to 20 mph Saturday. He places an arrow on a course map to show the direction at every hole.

"The guys we played with didn’t have (a chart) and it’s pretty simple to do," Elliott said. "And every hole they would ask which way the wind was blowing, and I said I knew exactly where it was going. I got fooled once all day on No. 17. I just trust what the arrow says.

Elliott struggled early Saturday, making bogey on three of his first six holes to drop to 1 under for the tournament. But he came back strong with five birdies over the next seven holes to finish at 6-under-par.

"I had a little shaky start. It was windy and tough to get the right club on some shots," said Elliott. "I hit some good shots that didn’t turn out too good. I hit a close one on No. 7 and birdied No. 8 and started playing real good the last few holes."

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