Steve Lowery increases lead to three

Playing on a course where birdies have been plentiful and pars almost a given, Steve Lowery is not about to sit on his lead.

Lowery shot a 65 today leaving him 20-under par after three rounds and extending his lead to three strokes at the Southern Farm Bureau Classic.

The 40-year-old Lowery doubts he'll be able to coast to his second career PGA Tour victory.

"It doesn't look like you can play conservative and win," he said.

Soft greens, made even softer by intermittent rain the past three days, and little wind have left the par-72, 7,199-yard course at Annandale Golf Club defenseless against the field.

The average round has been 69.8 through three rounds. There have been 1,426 birdies and just 630 bogeys.

"They're not going to fall over and die,'' Lowery said of the competition. "I'm going to have to put the offense on the field and play aggressive.''

Fred Funk moved into contention with a third-round 64, placing him in a tie for second with Kenny Perry and Billy Andrade at 17-under 199.

"My goal was to get in position to try to win the golf tournament and I am if Steve (Lowery) would just calm down a little bit,'' said Funk, who won here in 1998.

Lowery held one-stroke leads after the first two rounds and while many have been good, he has been consistently excellent.

"I'm trying not to worry about other people,'' said Lowery, whose 196 is a tournament record through 54 holes. "If I play the way I can play. I can win.''

Lowery has made two of the field's 28 eagles, 17 birdies, and just one bogey in three rounds.

"I was making some birdies and still losing strokes to him," said Andrade, who shot a 66.

Lowery said a good start on Sunday would go a long way to securing his first victory since winning the International at Castle Rock, Colo., in 1994.

"If you see me through the first six or eight, and I'm looking like I have been the whole week, I would say those would be the key holes. If I can get my confidence under me and get to playing well I'm going to be tough to beat."

Lowery entered the weekend 36th on the PGA Tour money list and with a victory, he stands a good chance of breaking into the final top 30 and guaranteeing him a spot in next year's U.S. Open.

Funk played the four par 5s in 5-under, including a 20-foot putt for eagle on No. 5. Perry shot a 65.

Skip Kendall started his day by finishing his second round well. He holed a sand wedge from about 100 yards for an eagle on 18.

He rode that momentum to a front-nine 30 that included four birdies and an eagle. Kendall is in a group of four at 16-under 200.

For many of those out of the running to catch the leaders, there is still plenty to play for in the final round of the season's final tournament.

Players are jockeying for position on the money list trying to secure playing privileges for next season and avoid qualifying tournaments. The top 125 players earn PGA Tour cards for 2001.

Joey Sindelar, a 17-year veteran, is 124th in earnings and was at 8-under 208 through three rounds. That put him in a tie for 44th place.

"I've come down to the fact that I need about 10,000 bucks and if I do that, probably enough guys won't pass me - unless all the cards fell perfectly. So that's the mission," he said.

Another long-time tour player was not so lucky. Dan Forsman came into the tournament 125th, but failed to make the cut after round two was completed this morning.

Forsman had gone 18 seasons without losing his card.

Pete Jordan, a little less than $12,000 behind Forsman at 126 on the money list, may have missed an opportunity to catch the two veterans by shooting a 72 today that left him 11-under and tied for 26th.

"I lost a lot of ground today," said Jordan, who earned his tour card in Q School last year.

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