Lowery & Pettersson top leaderboard

Steve Lowery and Carl Pettersson were on the putting green when they felt the warm wind on their face and slick grass beneath their feet Saturday, two sure signs that the Chrysler Championship would be as tough as ever.

That's one reason neither feels safe sharing a three-shot lead.

Pettersson found his rhythm around the turn, hitting five straight iron shots inside 12 feet and converting three of them for birdie on his way to a 4-under 67.

Lowery saved par with a 30-foot putt on the ninth, then birdied the next two holes for a 1-under 70, a satisfying round on another tough day at Innisbrook that put him atop the leaderboard with Pettersson at 9-under 204.

Davis Love III (70), Tom Pernice Jr. (70) and Daniel Chopra (68) were at 207.

The leaders hardly felt safe.

``You guys cover this stuff,'' Lowery said. ``Somebody gets hot during the day, and it could be the last three groups. Who knows? Carl is certainly capable of winning. I am. It's just a matter of who handles it well tomorrow and gets confidence and drives it in the fairway a lot and makes some putts.''

Love, trying to avoid another winless season, rebounded from a double bogey in the water on No. 3 to stay in the hunt, although he lost a chance to get into the final group by missing a 6-foot birdie on the last hole.

``You have to hit fairways and greens,'' Love said. ``It's key for me to get off to a good start. If you get it rolling, it's not that hard. But if you're trying to get up-and-down on every hole, it starts to look impossible.''

The race to finish in the top 30 on the money list to get into the Tour Championship also took a few unexpected turns. Charles Howell III, holding down the 30th spot, was playing a steady round until he closed with three straight bogeys for a 74 that dropped him into a tie for 18th at 1-under 212.

He still was in good shape, but good rounds Sunday by Chad Campbell (69) or Tim Herron (71) could change that. Campbell and Herron were tied for seventh at 4-under 209.

If someone comes from behind, it might be more a survival than any kind of charge.

``Pars are good out here,'' said Pettersson, who finished his round with eight straight. ``This is a tough golf course to keep going low. I hope I can do it.''

Pernice, coming off a runner-up finish at Disney last week, must win to get into the Tour Championship. He dropped only one shot and has as good a chance as anyone.

``A good score here will go a long way,'' he said.

Unlike the last two weeks on the PGA Tour -- Las Vegas and Disney -- the Copperhead course at Innisbrook doesn't yield many birdies. Stuart Appleby had the best score Saturday, a 6-under 65, to match the low round of the week.

That's what made Pettersson's run so amazing.

He saved par from the left rough on No. 6, then saw nothing but the yellow flag on the quick greens. He hit a lob wedge into 5 feet on the seventh, a 5-iron into 8 feet on the 226-yard eighth hole and an 8-iron out of the thick rough that stopped 6 feet away on No. 10.

But the Swedish-born, North Carolina-raised Pettersson didn't get too greedy.

``This is a course where you don't push it too much,'' he said.

It will be the third chance Pettersson has to win on the PGA Tour. Along with the Deutsche Bank, where his putter failed him in the final round, he was one shot behind in the third round of the Honda Classic last year when he took five putts from 40 feet.

``You've got to play the same,'' Pettersson said. ``It doesn't matter if you're four back or four ahead. You try your best to win. You've got to put yourself in that position. Some players learn quicker than others.''

Lowery fell out of the lead only once Saturday, when Pettersson in the group ahead made birdie at No. 10. Lowery's best hole was a par, going from bad rough to worse rough on the ninth, and making a 30-foot putt.

He followed that with a 15-foot birdie on the 10th, and a nifty bunker shot from 30 yards short of the par-5 11th to 6 feet for another birdie.

Winning would be quite a turnaround for Lowery, who started his year by missing eight straight cuts and wondered if he would ever play well the rest of the season.

``It would be very satisfying after the start I had,'' Lowery said. ``That would be a huge accomplishment.''

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