Fred Funk, the
former University of Maryland golf coach, is taking advice from his wife on putting,
and it's paying off.
"I'm
going to give her some credit. She told me a couple of weeks ago to get my hands
a lot higher, which she's always been telling me to do," Funk said, referring
to his wife, Sharon. "I finally figured out how to do it. I changed my putting
grip and allowed my hands to get up a little higher. And now my bad putts are
a lot better."
Funk capped a 6-under-par 65 with a 15-foot birdie putt on No. 18 today and took
a one-stroke lead after three rounds of the $2.5 million Air Canada Championship.
Phil Tataurangi, who also
shot a 65, and Carlos Franco, with his third straight 67, were tied for second
at 12-under 201 after three trips around the suburban Vancouver Northview Golf
and Country club course. Canadian Mike Weir, whose 64 was the low round of the
day, and Charles Raulerson, one of the second-round co-leaders who shot a 69,
were another shot back.
"He's
a hard study," Sharon Funk said, smiling, referring to her husband.
And he may be hard to catch.
Saturday's round followed a sizzling 64 for the 16-year PGA Tour veteran who is
gunning for his sixth career victory, and first since last year's Deposit Guaranty
Golf Classic.
Funk
shot up the leaderboard with a bogey-free round. After opening with a birdie on
1, he then moved to 11 under with birdies on 4, 5 and 6. Funk went to 12 under
and claimed a share of the lead with Tataurangi when he holed a 20-foot birdie
putt on the par-5 12th. He then capped his day with the birdie at 18.
"It's fun to follow a 64 with
a 65. Hopefully, I can follow a 65 with a 62 or whatever I need tomorrow," said
Funk, who is coming off a fourth-place finish at last weekend's Reno-Tahoe Open.
His best finish of the year came in May, when he was second at the MasterCard
Colonial.
The round
featured plenty of movement after the day began with 35 players within five shots
of the lead. Now there are only 10 within five shots, including U.S. Open champion
Payne Stewart and Greg Chalmers, who are tied for sixth, four shots off the pace.
Chalmers made a surge, moving to 9 under with a round of 65, while Stewart shot
a 69.
Brandt Jobe,
who was atop the leaderboard after both the first and second rounds, struggled,
shooting a 72 and was at 205.
Tataurangi, who recorded his lowest round of the year, is firmly in contention
after he birdied four of the last six holes on the front nine. After another birdie
on 10, he capped his round with a birdie on the par-4 14th when his second shot,
from 146 yards, landed 3 feet from the pin.
He then saved his round with a par-saving 15-foot putt on 18, after he was forced
to hit his second shot out of a divot and over water.
"It
was nice. I played pretty well today and it was nice to finish it off," Tataurangi
said. "I was in a divot, I had mud on one side of the ball. To be honest with
you, I was just relieved to see it drive. It could've done anything out of that
lie."
Franco, a
two-time winner in his rookie year on the PGA Tour, got to 12 under with a 15-foot
birdie putt on 18.
"I'm
very happy and confident I can win tomorrow," Franco said. "I don't have pressure
for tomorrow. I need only to play only golf. No need thinking about my third win.
I only need to play good."
Weir's round was the second best of this year's tournament.
The 29-year-old Ontario native is trying to become the first native Canadian to
win a PGA Tour event since Richard Zokol won the Greater Milwaukee Open in 1992.
Pat Fletcher is the last Canadian to win on native soil, doing so at the 1954
Canadian Open, which was held at Vancouver's Point Grey course.
"It
does feel great. I know there's going to be pressure on me tomorrow to be the
first Canadian to win here in a while. I'm looking forward to the challenge,"
Weir said.
