Choi & Trahan top leaderboard

South Korea's K.J. Choi and American D.J. Trahan enjoyed flawless afternoons to grab a share of the third round lead at the Greensboro Classic in North Carolina on Saturday.

The leading pair will carry a one stroke lead over Japan's Shigeki Maruyama and American Jason Bohn into Sunday's final round at the Forest Oaks Country Club.

Seeking a first title, Trahan got off to the best possible start with a birdie at the first and then had 11 consecutive pars before storming to the finish with three birdies and an eagle on the par-four 16th over his closing six holes for a six-under 66.

"I felt like I was just plodding along all day," Trahan said. "I played really solid golf all day.

"Birdied the first hole right out the gate with a 25-footer.

"I started thinking, okay, that's great, let's get going.

"Kind of just hit a wall there, just made a ton of pars. Finally I broke through there on 13, the par-five. Then it just got interesting after that."

Twice a winner on the PGA Tour, Choi also turned in a steady performance with two birdies on his outward nine and three more after the turn for a five-under 67 to join Trahan on 16-under 200.

Bohn, who won his first title at the B.C. Open in July, began in style by eagling the par-five second and roaring into the turn with four consecutive birdies from the sixth.

The 32-year-old American could not maintain the scorching pace, however, mixing two birdies with a bogey on his back to return a seven-under 65 for a three-day total of 15-under 201.

"Today I played great," Bohn said. "I got off to a fantastic start. I just hit some really high quality golf shots, then I kind of got a little loose coming down the stretch.

"To be honest, I made a couple mental mistakes.

"All in all, I'm very pleased with my performance. I'm not afraid to fire at some flags because my short game's pretty sharp right now."

Champion here two years ago, Maruyama had a pair of eagles at the par-five ninth and 13th on his scorecard, mixing them with four birdies and a pair of bogeys to join Bohn at 201.

Lurking two shots back of the co-leaders is Briton Justin Rose who had another consistent afternoon, signing for a four-under 68 to sit alone on 202, one shot clear of American Tim Herron (67).

"I think, obviously, it's a good position to be in," Rose said.

"There's quite a few guys tucked behind the leader. You know somebody's going to go low.

"It's a matter of going out there and being aggressive from the word "go,".

"When you're two back, there's no time to hang around. No time to be nervous, none of that stuff. Fire from the word 'go'."

Robert Gamez, who captured the Texas Open last week to end a 15-year title drought, maintained his bid for back-to-back wins with a sparkling 63 to lead a group at 12-under 204.

Gamez's round included five birdies on his outward nine and four in a row from the 13th before he finished a stroke outside the course record.

World number six Sergio Garcia of Spain, the highest ranked player in the tournament, had a six-under 66 to join Gamez on 204 with another American Brandt Jobe.

200 D.J. Trahan 65 69 66, KJ Choi (Kor) 64 69 67

201 Jason Bohn 71 65 65, Shigeki Maruyama (Jpn) 70 65 66

202 Justin Rose (Eng) 69 65 68

203 Tim Herron 70 66 67

204 Brandt Jobe 72 65 67, Robert Gamez 72 69 63, Sergio Garcia (Spa) 69 69 66

205 Tim Clark (Rsa) 66 69 70, Olin Browne 68 72 65, Jerry Kelly 70 68 67, Mark Wilson 72 67 66, Carl Pettersson (Swe) 69 67 69

206 John Huston 66 66 74, John Rollins 67 68 71, Paul Azinger 69 71 66, Darron Stiles 69 69 68, Charles Warren 62 74 70

207 Wes Short jr. 68 70 69, J.L. Lewis 72 68 67, Daniel Chopra (Swe) 67 69 71, Duffy Waldorf 69 71 67, Scott Gutschewski 67 74 66, Dudley Hart 70 67 70

208 Brian Gay 69 66 73, Jonathan Kaye 70 68 70, D.A. Points 72 66 70, Charles Howell III 69 71 68, Steve Allan (Aus) 72 68 68, Neal Lancaster 71 70 67, Brian Bateman 70 71 67, Marco Dawson 72 68 68, Kent Jones 70 71 67, Joe Durant 67 71 70

209 Chris Smith 72 65 72, Tim Petrovic 70 69 70, Hank Kuehne 71 67 71, Steve Lowery 74 67 68, Steve Elkington (Aus) 70 70 69, Cameron Beckman 70 69 70

210 Tom Byrum 71 67 72, Matt Gogel 67 74 69, Chad Campbell 69 72 69, Jeff Maggert 69 71 70, J J Henry 66 72 72, James Driscoll 67 71 72, Shaun Micheel 75 66 69, Billy Mayfair 69 71 70, Jonathan Byrd 67 73 70, Justin Bolli 69 72 69

211 Tjaart Vaner Walt (Rsa) 73 68 70, Tom Lehman 69 70 72, Charlie Wi (Kor) 70 71 70, Tom Gillis 70 68 73, Adam Scott (Aus) 73 68 70, Ryan Moore 72 69 70, Hunter Haas 70 68 73, Phillip Price (Wal) 69 71 71, Gavin Coles (Aus) 68 70 73, Lucas Glover 70 71 70

212 Jay Delsing 71 68 73, Heath Slocum 71 69 72, Hidemichi Tanaka (Jpn) 66 74 72, Tom Pernice Jnr. 72 69 71

213 Hunter Mahan 75 66 72, Geoff Ogilvy (Aus) 68 73 72, Thomas Levet (Fra) 74 67 72, Peter Lonard (Aus) 71 70 72, Tommy Armour III 71 70 72

214 Billy Andrade 69 72 73, Tag Ridings 71 68 75

215 Patrick Sheehan 71 68 76, Michael Long (Nzl) 70 71 74, Robert Damron 74 67 74

216 Corey Pavin 72 69 75

217 Ben Curtis 69 69 79

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