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Chad Campbell shot a brilliant nine-under-par 61 in windy conditions on Saturday to gain a share of the lead after three rounds of the PGA Tour's $5 million Colonial tournament.

Campbell finished on eight-under 202 along with U.S. compatriots Brian Gay (65) and Steve Flesch (67) at the Colonial Country Club.

After 12 holes, Gay, who was born in Fort Worth, appeared to be on the verge of running away from the field with an eight-under score that pushed him to 11-under for the event. But he bogeyed three of the final five holes to drop back.

Flesch had a chance to take the outright lead on the 18th hole but his putt drifted off line.

Zach Johnson (68) holds solo fourth place on 204, one stroke ahead of Sweden's Jesper Parnevik (68) and New Zealand's Craig Perks (70).

Second-round co-leader Justin Leonard headed a group of seven players on four-under 206. Joining the former British Open champion on that mark were Mark Brooks, Brian Bateman, Frank Lickliter II, Brett Quigley, Tim Petrovic and Robert Gamez.

Campbell, 29, a native Texan, set up his round with an eagle at the first hole and birdies at the next two.

"I feel like I have been playing well, just haven't been able to get the ball in the hole," he told reporters. "To be able to make a few putts on the first few holes really got my confidence up and I kept that going throughout the round."

Campbell, the 2003 Tour Championship winner, bogeyed the fourth before hitting back with birdies at the fifth and seventh. But he dropped a stroke at the eighth where he three-putted.

On the back nine, he birdied three successive holes from the 11th before making further inroads on par at the 15th and 17th. Campbell needed only 24 putts all day.

"I guess you don't ever think 61s are out there," he said. "If you get it going, obviously like I did today, you can make it happen, but if you just hit the ball in the fairway and get it on the green, you get a lot of looks (at birdies) out here.

"That's easier said than done, obviously. But the greens aren't huge, so if you get it on the green, you're going to have a lot of 15, 20-footers, even if you're not hitting the perfect iron shots."

As for a wind that made many players uncertain of club selections, Campbell said it was not much of a factor for him.

"We've played pretty much the same wind conditions the last three days, so I know pretty much what it's doing," he said.

"This is about normal, as far as blowing 20 mph out there. It blows pretty much every day out there and I think it's really beneficial to grow up here and learn to play in that and learn to hit a lot of different shots in the wind."

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