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Gow & Sluman share lead into last day

Paul Gow birdied his final four holes Saturday to post a six-under 66 and grab a share of the lead with Jeff Sluman after 54 holes of the B.C. Open. The duo stands at 16-under-par 200 and has a one-shot lead over Jim McGovern and overnight leader Brett Quigley.

Jay Haas, Jonathan Kaye and Mark Hensby are knotted in fifth place at minus-14.

Gow bogeyed both 13 and 14 to drop down the leaderboard. His round turned at the par-four 15th, when he wedged his approach three feet from the cup to set up birdie. He drove the green at the 321-yard, par-four 16th and two-putted from 30 feet for his second consecutive birdie.

At 17, Gow nearly holed his eight-iron tee shot when the ball hit the stick and stopped four feet from the flag, where he converted his third birdie in a row. Gow used more great wedge play on 18 to land the ball four feet from the hole and collect his fourth birdie in as many holes.

"I put myself back into contention so we'll see how I handle it tomorrow," said Gow, a PGA Tour rookie. "We'll see how things go under pressure tomorrow."

Sluman fired a seven-under 65 on Saturday, but spectacular approach shots down the stretch put him in a tie for the lead. At 15, Sluman hit a wedge to five feet to set up birdie.

While Sluman was on the tee at 17, he trailed Quigley by one shot. Quigley made a mess of the 15th hole and took bogey, dropping him into a tie with Sluman. Sluman nearly holed his eight-iron tee shot at 17, but settled for a tap-in birdie, which gave him sole possession of first until Gow caught him.

"It would be very special to win close to home," said the Rochester native. "I've had my chances here and I think my record is pretty good here."

Sluman held sole possession of first place after the third round last week at the Greater Milwaukee Open. He shot a one-over 72 on Sunday last week and finished tied for 10th.

Quigley, who fired a 10-under 62 on Friday, did not finish well on Saturday. At 15, he pushed his tee shot right into the gallery and played a low second shot through the green. He chipped left of the hole and watched as his ball rolled some 18 feet past the hole. Quigley missed the par save, which dropped him out of the lead by one shot.

He rebounded at 16, where he drove the green for the second day in a row and two-putted for birdie to jump back into a tie for the lead. Problems arose again to the right at 17. He missed the putting surface right with a nine-iron and then left his second in the rough. When he chipped on, he left it a foot short and tapped in for bogey.

"I never really thought about what I shot yesterday," said Quigley, who posted an even-par 72 in round three. "I just tried to make some putts today and I probably tried to force it too much more than anything, and as a result didn't play too well."

Gow came out blazing with two birdies in his first three holes, but missed a six-foot birdie at the fifth. He made up for it with a 15-foot birdie at six and a two-putt birdie from 30 feet at eight for a front-nine 33.

He struggled at the start of his second nine, missing three makeable birdie efforts at the first three holes. Gow missed an eight-foot par save on No. 13 and followed with a three-putt bogey from 40 feet at the next hole, but closed in style to share the 54-hole lead.

The rookie has struggled this season with his best finish a tie for 25th at the Nissan Open in February.

"I'm starting to enjoy it more out here," said Gow. "It's a long grind but I'm sure it gets better."

Sluman made birdie putts from inside eight feet at four of his first five holes and chipped to two feet from the side of the green at 12 to set up his fifth birdie of the day.

John Riegger is alone in eighth place at 12-under-par 204.

Mark Carnevale (65), Steve Pate (67), Brian Watts (67), Ted Tryba (69) and Ronnie Black share ninth at minus-11.

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