Singh & Coles share lead into final round

Vijay Singh is in a familiar position at the Houston Open.

After a slow start Saturday, Singh turned things around and is tied for the lead with Gavin Coles after the third round of the $5 million event.

Singh, who has won two of the last three tournaments here, shot a 2-under-par 70 and is at 11-under 205 with Coles, who carded a 71.

The No. 2 golfer in the world, Singh followed an opening-round 64 with a mundane 71 on Friday. He bogeyed two of his first four holes Saturday before carding birdies on Nos. 8, 10, 12 and 15 to pull into a share of the lead.

Singh's front-nine struggles had him five shots off the lead at one point but the recent Hall of Fame inductee maintained his poise and fired three back-nine birdies.

"I was aware I was dropping shots, but there's 18 holes out there and you never know what can happen," Singh said. "I knew the golf course was not going to give up too many birdies. The wind was a totally different direction and the guys are not used to that direction."

Coles, who had a share of the second-round lead, birdied Nos. 1 and 5 before back-to-back bogeys at the seventh and eighth dropped him to even-par for the day. The Australian rebounded with a birdie at the par-5 ninth and came in with nine consecutive pars.

"It got pretty windy and pretty tough and I didn't hit it as good as I did the first couple of days," Coles said. "I got off to a great start but I didn't drive it very good on the into the win holes."

Greg Owen shot a 2-under 70 and is in third at 206. Two-time Masters champion Jose Maria Olazabal and Brett Quigley are tied for fourth at 207.

Owen is a bogey-bogey finish away from having the lead all to himself. After carding four birdies on his first 16 holes, the Englishman stumbled on the par-4 17th and 18th holes.

"I played well today," Owen said. "I had two good shots into 18 and ended up with a five so I felt a little bit frustrated but all in all, I'm pretty happy."

John Daly, Joe Ogilvie and Tom Byrum are tied for sixth at 8-under 208. Daly shot a 1-over 73, recovering nicely from double-bogeys at Nos. 7 and 11 with three birdies over the next four holes.

Sunday's final pairing of Singh and Coles will be a study in contrasts on a number of fronts. Coles, ranked 388th in the world, has two career victories, both on the Nationwide Tour. Singh is ranked 386 spots higher and is 10 inches taller than his final round playing partner and much more experienced dealing with final round pressure.

Singh has 25 career PGA Tour wins, nine last season alone, and wouldn't be phased playing with Tiger Woods in a final round, let alone Coles.

"I think he'll be more concerned about playing with me than me with him," Singh said. "I'm not going to worry about him at all, just go out and play solid golf and see if I can pull it off."

Looking for his first PGA Tour victory, The 36-year old Coles is looking forward to the challenge that awaits him Sunday.

"It's awesome, mate," Coles said. "I can't imagine too many other guys that wouldn't want to be in my shoes tomorrow. What better could it be, playing the No. 2 player in the world."

While it will be a new experience for Coles, he expects to go about business as usual in the final round.

"Look, to be honest, I'm not going to see much of Vijay tomorrow," Coles said. "I'll see him on the tee and I'll see him on the green. Apart from that, we're probably not going to say much to each other. I suppose I'm going to take the mentality that it's me and my caddie out there and that's it."

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