Couples remains on course for victory

Reminded that it has been five years since he won a tournament, Fred Couples laughed sarcastically.

"Thank you very much," he said Saturday after a 5-under 67 kept him in the lead of the Houston Open for the third straight day. "You sure it hasn't been six?"

Among the dominant players in golf in the 1990s but not nearly as successful in recent years, the 43-year-old Couples put himself in position to end the victory by closing with five birdies on the last seven holes, getting him to 16-under 200 after 54 holes and a one-stroke lead over Mark Calcavecchia.

"All right. OK. It has been a long time," he said. "I should be fine and I just have to do what I did today... It will be the guy who makes the most putts.

"Even though I'm ahead, I still have to putt well. A lot of times I don't do that, but I am hitting the ball extremely well, so I just need to keep away from mistakes."

Couples rolled in an 8-foot putt for birdie on the par-4 18th hole to seize the lead alone.

"He's playing the best I've seen him play in a long time," said Calcavecchia, tied with Couples heading into play Saturday and tied after 17 holes.

Calcavecchia's birdie attempt at 18 was short by 2 feet, leaving him with a 4-under 68 and three-day total of 201.

"I am just glad I am in the last group again," he said. "I kind of lagged my putt on 18. I was trying to make it but I didn't want to three-putt. I didn't want to race it by 3 feet."

Australia's Stuart Appleby, with a third-round 66, was another shot back, followed by South African Trevor Immelman. Jay Haas was in a group of four at 204, four shots behind, and John Daly and defending champion Vijay Singh were among six at 205.

Couples managed to stay close despite early problems. He made birdie at the 562-yard, par-5 first hole despite failing to get a shot out of a bunker. But his second attempt out of the sand hit the flagstick and dropped in.

He bogeyed No. 3 and then at the seventh hole, a 498-yard par-4, his approach shot hit the water in front of the green, leading to a double-bogey.

"That was a blunder," Couples said. "I just lost a train of thought."

After "screaming at myself" to be more aggressive and after he "kicked myself in the pants," a birdie at No. 9 kept him at even par for the day, then he roared back with consecutive birdies at 12, 13 and 14 to regain a share of the lead.

"I played great the back nine," he said.

Calcavecchia, an 11-time winner looking for his first victory in more than two years, made the turn Saturday at 1 under for the day, gained a stroke at the 12th hole and another at No. 13 when he pitched into the hole from a bunker 30 feet away to tie him with then-leader Appleby.

"It just came out perfect," he said.

At No. 15, Calcavecchia put his third shot within 5 feet of the hole. Couples was even better, inside 2 feet, and both made birdies to leave Appleby one shot behind them. They each narrowly missed birdie putts on 16 and 17 and then Couples went ahead at 18.

Appleby, whose last victory came in 1999 at this event when it was played at the TPC at The Woodlands, started the day three shots back at 8 under, but played steady, making the turn at 3 under for the day. Then he made a 25-foot putt on No. 11 for birdie, and made it back to back with a 5-footer on the 12th hole to climb into a tie for what then was the lead at 13-under with Immelman.

He took the lead alone briefly with a birdie at No. 15, then parred out to finish with his 6-under 66.

"There's a bunch of people involved in winning this tournament with a realistic chance," Appleby said. "It will be a slugfest, I think. It will be plenty of birdies being made by the top handful of guys."

This year the tournament, sponsored by Shell Oil Co., was moved from The Woodlands complex after a 28-year run to the new sprawling Redstone Golf Club, at 7,508 yards the fourth-longest course on the tour.

Hank Kuehne, the 1998 U.S. Amateur champion whose course-record 64 Friday propelled him into a share of the lead after two rounds, bogeyed his first three holes and finished with an even-par 72 and three-day total of 11-under 205.

Divots: Marco Dawson aced the 204-yard par-3 No. 3. He finished at 6-under 66 and 9-under 207 after 54 holes. ... When Fred Couples made the cut to play this weekend, it was the 13th straight time he's been in the money at Houston. Jimmy Demaret holds the tournament record, making the cut 17 consecutive times from 1946-64. ... A day after Kuehne set a course record with an 8-under 64, Greg Chalmers matched it by making eight birdies over the last 11 holes. He 11 under, five shots off the lead.

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