Singh & Oberholser share lead into final day

World number two Vijay Singh overcame a shaky start Saturday to shoot a second straight 68 and share the third-round lead of the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am with Arron Oberholser.

Oberholser, who shot a 67, and Singh are on 13-under-par 203, three strokes ahead of Jeff Maggert and the British pair of Phillip Price and Luke Donald.

Phil Mickelson is alone in sixth place on 207.

Another stroke back are Tom Pernice Jr., Bill Glasson, Scott McCarron and Korea's K.J. Choi.

Donald, who held the second-round lead, could manage only an even-par 72 at Poppy Hills Golf Course, one of three courses in use this week, along with Spyglass Hill Golf Course and Pebble Beach Golf Links, the host course.

Sunday's final round will be held at Pebble Beach.

Singh looked off his form when he bogeyed the first hole at Pebble Beach. He drove his ball out of bounds on the second and struggled to make six at the par-five hole.

He got back to even-par for the day when he birdied the fifth and the seventh. A bogey at number eight, however, dropped him back to one-over on the front nine.

It was not until the 11th hole that the Fijian really began to show why he is the world's second-ranked player. Singh birdied the 11th and 12th, parred the 13th, then ran off three straight birdies to reach four under on the round.

"It's maybe because I'm hitting good shots, making the right putts at the right time," Singh said. "I can't explain it. It's a good feeling when it's going in. You just feel like you're going to make birdies."

Although he has complained throughout the tournament about the bumpy greens of the Monterey Peninsula courses, Singh once again had an excellent day putting. He needed only 26 putts, his best showing of the three rounds.

His 27.3 average places him in a tie for sixth in the field in putts per round.

Singh appears to be in great shape to record his 12th straight top-10 finish on the PGA Tour. Jack Nicklaus set the record of 14 straight in 1977.

Oberholser, a 29-year-old California native, had a more uneventful round, racking up two birdies on the front side at Spyglass Hill and three on the back for his 67.

Price, 37, has hovered around the top of the leader board since his opening-round 67 at Poppy Hills.

Like Singh, the Welshman had an up-and-down afternoon, making six birdies and three bogeys.

Email this page to a friend | Return to top of page