| Cromwell,
Conn, 4th July 1998 -
Scott Hoch, Larry Mize and Grant Waite all breezed through the
back nine Saturday at the Canon Greater Hartford Open and were tied for the third-round
lead with 13-under totals. Hoch,
who began the day at seven under, three strokes behind second-round leader Scott Gump,
shot the low round of the three leaders with a 6-under 64. It included a 31 on
the back nine as he closed with an 8-foot birdie putt on No. 18. The
eight-time PGA Tour champion had six other birdies in his round, and he took advantage
of the late afternoon winds to drive the 296-yard, par-4 15th. "Fortunately
for me I was able to hit the green with my drive and two-putt for birdie. That's
something I don't normally do," said Hoch, whose best finish this year was
second in the Kemper Open last month. Hoch's
last tour victory was the Greater Milwaukee Open last year. Mize and Waite have
gone winless on tour since 1993. Waite
had a 65 Saturday, while Mize had a 66. They played in the same group and both
parred every hole on the front nine. They then combined for nine birdies on the
back and said they fed off each other's successes. One of the highlights, they
agreed, was Waite holing a bunker shot at No. 11, where they both made a birdie.
"I said
to Larry after I made the bunker shot, 'I hoped that opened the door for both
of us,"' Waite said. "He made the putt, away we went. The last eight
holes was a lot of fun." Olin Browne,
David Duval and defending champion Stewart Cink were all tied at 11-under
199. Browne and Duval had third-round 66s, while Cink had a 67. Gump
had a 72, 10 strokes off his second-round 62 that tied the course record, and
finished at 8-under 202. Donnie Hammond
was on pace to break the course record when he unraveled on No. 17, the TPC at
River Highlands' signature 441-yard par-4. He had seven birdies and an eagle in
the third round and was 12 under for the tournament when he reached the 17th tee.
He then put three balls in the water, took a 10 and vanished from the leaderboard.
He drove into
the water along the right fairway, took a drop from 196 yards and put that in
the water and got the same results on his next drop. "My
dad used to always tell me I was kind of hard-headed. I guess he's right sometimes,"
said Hammond, who shot a 67 and was at 204, seven strokes off the lead. The
round also featured a hole-in-one by Len Mattiace on the 163-yard 11th. Mattiace
used a 9-iron for his second ace on the PGA Tour. It
proved to be a bittersweet moment for the Long Island native. He had many relatives
in the gallery, but his mother was missing. She died of cancer last week. "I
think she's with me and I think she's with our whole family," he said.
| 
