Wadkins has narrow advantage

Bobby Wadkins had the lead after three rounds of the Senior PGA Championship yet he was still worried about what could happen if Firestone Country Club were to get harder, drier and faster.

``You're never home free here,'' Wadkins said after shooting a 69 -- one of only five subpar rounds Saturday -- to lead the second senior major championship by one shot after 54 holes. ``You won't be free here tomorrow until you walk off the last green and you have the lowest score.''

Wadkins is the only player in the field with a red number next to his name. He stands at 1-under 209, one shot ahead of Fuzzy Zoeller, Larry Nelson and Roy Vucinich.

Being on top doesn't give much comfort, particularly with 18 players within four strokes of the lead.

``I can go out there tomorrow and play halfway decent and shoot 72,'' Wadkins said. ``Somebody is four back and they go out and shoot 3- or 4-under and then we have a ballgame.''

It was the first time since the tournament went to a 72-hole format in 1958 that only one player was under par through three rounds.

The field played to an average score of 73.5 on the par-70 layout and had twice as many bogeys (346) as birdies (172).

Even though Firestone has been set up almost like a U.S. Open venue, Zoeller said no one should be nervous because almost all the players have been in this situation in a major championship.

``It's not pressure. It's the greatest feeling in the world, to have your stomach jumping and your nerves a-plopping,'' he said. ``That's what life's all about, and that's what keeps us coming back and fighting for those tin cups and our marks in the history books.''

Wadkins said the course does not allow anyone to relax -- and there are no clear birdie holes.

``The older generation that we are now, you knock it in the rough and you're not as strong as you used to be to get the ball out,'' he said. ``You have got to play from hole No. 1 to No. 18. There are no let-up holes out there.''

The younger brother of former Ryder Cup captain Lanny Wadkins didn't escape unscathed over the 6,927-yard course. He double-bogeyed the final hole, hitting his drive far to the left and under an evergreen tree on the 452-yard par-4. He chipped out into the deep, gnarly rough, chopped the ball out into the rough again, hacked it onto the green and two-putted.

Zoeller, a rookie on the Senior PGA Tour, is seeking his first win among the over-50 set. He holed out a blast from the greenside bunker on 14 and hit 5-irons to 20 feet and 3 feet for birdies at Nos. 5 and 7.

But Zoeller, who won 10 times on the regular tour including the 1979 Masters and 1984 U.S. Open, also double-bogeyed the 635-yard ``Monster'' hole, No. 16, and had a bogey on the closing hole to cap a 70.

``If you could hit them all good, it wouldn't be any fun,'' Zoeller said with a laugh. ``I felt very, very good out there. I just kind of screwed up on a couple of shots. It shows I'm human, I guess.''

Nelson also won 10 titles before becoming a senior, including the 1983 U.S. Open and the 1981 and '87 PGA Championships. He started the day at 2-under, one shot behind leader Wayne Levi but had three bogeys and two birdies in a 72.

Vucinich is a former club pro in Sewickley, Pa., who retired in 1999 and then earned a berth on the Senior PGA Tour. He matched Wadkins and Bob Eastwood for the low round of the day, a 68, but bogeyed three of the final four holes.

Walter Hall and Jay Overton were at 1-over 211. At 212 and three shots behind Wadkins were three-time Senior PGA winner Hale Irwin, Levi, John Schroeder, Bob Gilder and Jim Thorpe, who won the year's first major for seniors, The Countrywide Tradition.

As Thorpe left the final green after his 72, he was asked for a golf ball by a youngster in the crowd. Thorpe handed him his putter.

``Here, I don't need this thing anymore,'' he muttered.

Irwin holed a 66-yard sand wedge for eagle on the par-5 2nd and almost made his iron approach on the par-4 4th before hitting the 9-foot birdie putt. But he sagged to five bogeys and a birdie over the final 14 holes.

``That was one of the worst putting rounds I think I've ever had,'' an angry Irwin said. He added that he planned on dragging his putter behind his car on the way back to the hotel.

Levi had taken the lead after 36 holes with rounds of 69 and 68 but was also 3-over on the last four holes while shooting a 75. He finished with six pars, five birdies, four bogeys and three double-bogeys in a wild round that mixed great shots with dreadful ones.

Tom Kite and Ray Floyd were among those at 213. Defending champion Tom Watson shot a 72 and was at 217.

Jack Nicklaus withdrew from the field shortly before he was scheduled to tee off, citing back problems he encountered while hitting shots on the practice range.

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