Pernice extends lead to three

Tom Pernice, Jr. birdied the 16th and 17th holes Saturday to move out to a three-point lead over Vijay Singh with one round to play at The International. Pernice finished with a three-day total of 33 points, just one shy of the 54-hole record set by Ernie Els last year.

This tournament, which is being played at the 7,559-yard Castle Pines Golf Club for the 16th consecutive year, features the modified Stableford scoring system, a format that awards two points for birdie, five points for eagle, but no points for par. One point is deducted for bogey and three are taken away for double-bogey or worse.

Pernice, who came into the third round with a two-point lead at 24 points, collected nine points on Saturday. Singh, the 1998 winner of this event, had the day's best haul with 12 points for a total of 30.

Pernice will be in a familiar position when he is paired with Singh on Sunday. Not because he'll take the lead into the final round -- Pernice has never held a third-round lead in his 10 full seasons on the PGA Tour -- but because he and the two-time major winner from Fiji play together in practice rounds as often as possible.

"[Vijay is] a great friend and he's a great player," said Pernice, who met Singh while both were playing on the Asian Tour. "He's been a great help to me. He's kind of taken me under his wing at times, and he's someone that I look up to."

"I think he's one of the best players in the world," Pernice added. "His work ethic is outstanding. We have a good time together and I think we'll have a great time again tomorrow. I'm looking forward to it."

Chris Riley, Chris DiMarco, Woody Austin and Charles Howell III each posted eight points in the third round. Riley remained in third place at 29 points, while DiMarco finished alone in fourth with 28. Austin and Howell shared fifth place at 27 points.

Defending champion Els ended the day at 26 points with Sergio Garcia, who managed to save par from off the green at his final hole for the second

On Friday, Garcia pitched in from 40 yards for a par at the ninth -- his last hole in round two -- after his drive went in the water. Garcia found trouble off the 18th tee on Saturday, as he blocked his final drive into the right rough.

Garcia's second shot landed short of the green on a small strip of fairway and he pitched his third over the back fringe. He then rolled in the putt from 20 feet to once again cheat bogey.

The field, cut down to 73 players after Friday's second round, was trimmed to the top 36 players and ties after round three. This unique second cut included 37 golfers at 16 points and better.

Phil Mickelson, the winner of The International in 1993 and '97, was just eight points off the lead after two rounds but lost 11 points to miss Saturday's cut.

Mickelson endured a terrible day, with seven bogeys, two double-bogeys and only one birdie.

Singh's birdie at the eighth hole was his fourth of the day and lifted him into the lead with 26 points. He bogeyed the ninth to make the turn with 25, leaving him two points behind Pernice, who tallied two birdies and a bogey on the front nine to push his total to 27 points.

Pernice sank a 20-foot birdie putt at the 13th for 29 points, but soon Singh tied him atop the leaderboard with a two-putt birdie at the par-five 14th and a tap-in birdie at 15 after his sand-wedge approach spun back to a foot.

Singh missed a six-foot par putt at 16 to drop a point off the pace, but returned to the top spot with 30 points after making a four-footer for birdie at the 17th.

Although he had a shot at a closing birdie at 18, Singh's birdie putt from 15 feet hopped halfway to the hole and missed right.

Pernice, who nudged one point ahead with a 30-foot birdie putt at 16, came up three feet short on a 40-foot eagle attempt at 17 and made the birdie to go up by three.

Stuart Appleby demonstrated the explosive nature of the scoring system, as birdies on five of the first six holes Saturday garnered him a quick 10 points and a total of 24. He lost a point on the way in, however, with a back nine comprised of a double-bogey, two bogeys and two birdies.

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