Baddeley & Slocum tie for lead

The co-leaders at Tucson preached patience -- definitely a virtue for young guns looking for their first PGA Tour victory.

Aaron Baddeley's newfound patience helped him stay in the zone for an 8-under 64 Saturday. Heath Slocum had to exercise his after making bogeys near the start and at the end of a so-so round of 70.

At the end of the day, Baddeley and Slocum found themselves tied for the Chrysler Classic of Tucson lead at 15-under 201.

"I've been really close to holing a lot of putts," Baddeley said. "It's just being patient, because I know that I'm close to playing well. I'm working on the right things, and my flow with my strokes was really great today. That was key."

Slocum knows about temper control -- in 2002, he led here after three rounds but couldn't get any putts to drop on the final day. Later that year, he squandered a one-shot lead in the last three holes at Hilton Head.

With bogeys on the second and 18th holes, Slocum was glad just to share the lead after starting the round one stroke ahead of Bill Glasson.

"I didn't have my best, and I just tried to remain really patient and, you know, kind of survive," he said. "I made some putts when I had to, and overall it was a good day. I didn't hurt myself too badly."

Mike Heinen had a 65 to stay within a shot. Carlos Franco, who shot 68, and Mark Hensby (69) were also tied at 202.

Glasson (71), who had to complete eight holes of the rain-delayed second round before starting the third, chipped in for birdie on the last hole to join Vaughn Taylor (69) and Per-Ulrik Johansson (69) two shots off the pace.

Defending champion Frank Lickliter II shot a 72 and was in a tie with 13 others at 8-under 208.

Johansson finished with a double-bogey -- and cost himself a share of the lead -- for the second straight round.

This time, he boomed a 314-yard drive on No. 18 that found a water hazard. After a drop onto tricky footing in a wet area, Johansson's approach shot landed on the green, but he three-putted.

Baddeley had three top-10 finishes last year as a rookie, including a playoff loss to Ernie Els at the Sony Open in Hawaii. But this season his best finish in five events has been a tie for 15th in Hawaii, and he has missed two cuts -- something he only did five times in 20 tournaments in 2003.

He started six shots behind, but was on early, with birdies on five of the first 10 holes.

The 22-year-old heartthrob drew cheers on the par-3 12th hole, where he had just enough backspin on his tee shot to get the ball to roll 8 feet downhill toward the cup.

He got another hand after sinking a 12-foot birdie putt which moved him to 13 under, and added birdies on the 13th and 15th holes before parring out.

"It was kind of just riding on the coattails out there," Heinen said about drawing inspiration from Baddeley, his playing partner. "He was hitting good shots, making good putts."

The leaderboard was crowded early.

Hensby and Johansson eagled the second hole, Johansson with a 54-foot putt.

Hensby moved into a tie for the lead at 13 under with his 15-footer and took a short-lived, solo lead when Slocum, playing one group behind, made his first bogey of the tournament on No. 2.

Slocum's second shot stopped in the rough to the right of the green on the 495-yard par-5, his chip was short and he three-putted from 100 feet.

It was a preview of his bad luck on the 18th green, when he misread the undulating greens and three-putted from 49 feet.

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