Lickliter stretches lead to four strokes

Frank Lickliter II edged closer to his second PGA Tour victory, and first since a drastic makeover in his golf swing, by widening his lead to four strokes after three rounds of the Chrysler Classic of Tucson.

Lickliter shot an unspectacular 2-under-par 70 on Saturday, but his closest competitors when the day began all faltered badly. He was at 16-under 200 through 54 holes.

``I just played real solid,'' he said. ``I stayed real focused. I'd just like to make a few more putts tomorrow.''

Lickliter found his score more than acceptable on the heels of the 9-under 63 that propelled him into the lead on Friday. Often, golfers get down on themselves when they can't keep up such a torrid pace.

``I'm very happy to break par today,'' he said. ``It's so easy to let your expectations go out of control.''

Under an overcast but dry sky, with no wind, on the 7,109-yard course at the Omni Tucson National Golf Resort, Chad Campbell and Steve Flesch had strong third rounds to move from far back into a second-place tie with Brenden Pappas at 12-under 204.

Lickliter, 33, could have had a far more comfortable lead, but he missed a five-foot birdie putt on the par-3, 186-yard 17th hole, then lipped out one from 10 on the tough, par-4, 465-yard 18th for his only bogey of the day. He also missed a handful of relatively short birdie putts on the front nine.

He got a break on No. 18 when his tee shot hooked to the left. It might have rolled into the water had the gallery not stopped it.

``That's the happiest I've ever been to see a crowd, believe me,'' he said.

Campbell, in the first group to tee off in chilly conditions Saturday morning, shot a 9-under 63, capped by a 7-under 29 on the back nine.

Flesch, who has won $5.7 million in five years on the PGA Tour but has no victories, shot an 8-under 64, but it could have been better.

The left-handed golfer seemed headed for a record-shattering round when he birdied 10 of the first 13 holes to go 10-under for the day.

``It's hard to explain how it happens,'' Flesch said, ``but just everything I hit went in the hole.''

But after knocking down birdie putts of 60 and 40 feet from the fringe on the 11th and 12th holes, he three-putted from 12 feet for a double-bogey 7 on the par-5, 663-yard 15th.

``A total loss of concentration,'' he said. ``That's exactly how the game is. I mean, you'd like to stand out there and scream at the top of your lungs.''

Lickliter won the Kemper Insurance Open in 2001 and finished 19th on the money list that year, but decided after failing to make a cut over the last two months of the Tour that he had to change everything about his swing if he wanted to be one of the best.

A one-dimensional, left-to-right hitter, Lickliter went to work with coach Randy Seniour to change that so he could make any kind of shot that was required.

It has taken 18 months, but the revamped approach has Lickliter in command with 18 holes to play in Tucson, a tournament that features few big names because most of them are playing in the Match Play Championship in California.

If he holds on Sunday, the $540,000 first prize would be his second-largest payday, behind the $630,000 he won at the Kemper. It would be the first time in four years that the event formerly known as the Tucson Open didn't go to a first-time winner.

Gay, 11-under when the day began, struggled to a 4-over 76 to fall far out of contention at 7-under 209.

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