Quigley & McRoy tied for lead

Brett Quigley and Spike McRoy each carded one-under 69s on Saturday and share the lead at seven- under par after three rounds of the Buy.com Richmond Open. Chris Smith, Ted Purdy and Larry Rinker are each two shots off the pace at five-under.

Steve Runge, who started the day tied for the lead with Quigley and McRoy, struggled to a two-over 72 and is tied for sixth with five other players at four-under.

Quigley birdied the second, third and fourth holes to take the lead at nine-under, but playing partner Runge caught him with three birdies on his first six holes. Runge didn't make another birdie and bogeyed five holes in his last 10, including three straight from 11 through 13, to fall off the pace.

Quigley also dropped back with a double-bogey on the par-three seventh, but rebounded with a birdie on the eighth before another bogey on the par-three ninth. He played steady golf on the back nine with one birdie and one bogey.

Quigley was four-over on the par-threes during the third round, costing him the outright lead heading into the final day. He also hit just 4-of-14 fairways and 11-of-18 greens.

"I was getting sloppy, I guess," said Quigley. "I just wasn't sharp, but somehow I held it together and put up a good score. That's the difference between finishing well and finishing 20th."

McRoy, meanwhile, was steady on the front nine, as a birdie at the fourth hole allowed him to make the turn in one-under par. He added a birdie at the 11th hole to reach eight-under, but had two bogeys and a birdie in the closing five holes to tie Quigley for the lead.

"I guess if you weren't playing in the morning, it was tough to put a low number up," said McRoy. "Under par out there this afternoon, that's a good score."

McRoy was referring to the weather in the afternoon, as temperatures reached 90 degrees with a heat index near 100.

Smith tied for the low round of the day with a five-under 65 to vault into a tie for third. He could have been one shot closer, but bogeyed the 18th hole.

Smith has had runner-up finishes in each of the last two events -- the Knoxville Open and South Carolina Classic. He is sixth on the money list this year, but has yet to find the winner's circle.

Quigley shared the runner-up spot two weeks ago with Smith in South Carolina, while McRoy matched Smith's runner-up finish last week in Knoxville. McRoy is 26th on the money list and Quigley is 27th.

First-round leader Chris Zambri shot a one-under 69 on Saturday and is tied with Runge at four-under. Ryuji Imada tied Smith for the low round of the day with a 65 and is also four-under, along with Ian Leggatt, Craig Kanada and Michael Muehr.

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