Stiles opens four shot lead

Darron Stiles survived strong winds and 26 holes on Saturday to take a four-shot lead at seven-under 209 after three rounds of the Buy.com Tri-Cities Open. John Kernohan is alone in second at three-under, while Tyler Williamson and Lee Rinker share third place at minus-two.

Stiles was among the 74 players who had to complete the second round on Saturday morning after play was suspended on Friday because of darkness. Wind gusts up to 40 miles per hour forced tournament officials to delay play for three hours Friday.

Stiles posted an even-par 72 after finishing the last eight holes of the second round. At that time, he was one shot back of second- round leader Zach Johnson.

But Stiles had trouble at the beginning of round three, bogeying the first, second and fourth holes, and needing a 15-foot putt to save par at the third.

"It wore on me a little bit because I've done it before," Stiles said. "Last year in Richmond, when I won, I bogeyed the first three on Sunday.

"I just knew in the wind it's not going to be playing easy and everybody's going to have a hard time, so just stay with it and eventually you will start hitting some good shots. Once I did, it just continued throughout the rest of the day."

Stiles notched four birdies over a seven hole stretch from the seventh to the 13th to take sole possession of the lead. He later added birdies on 16 and 18 to extend his advantage while many of the players around him faltered.

Although Williamson and Rinker suffered bogeys on the way in on Saturday to keep them from a higher third-round finish, Kernohan shot himself into contention with the day's low round of five-under 67.

"Just trying to stay focused on the game today," said Kernohan, who was one of only seven players to register sub-par scores in round three. "I was trying to hang tough and just play one shot at a time to try to get that thing finished. Because if you get a good round you know you are going to pass a bunch of people."

Kernohan, who carded a 75 in the second round, jumped from a tie for 21st into second place heading into Sunday's final round.

Todd Demsey and J.J. Henry, who were both one shot behind Stiles after two rounds, each shot 76s to slip to one-over for the tournament. Johnson, the second-round leader at five-under par, turned in a six-over 78 to join the nine-man logjam at plus-one.

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