Long before he signed his scorecard, Brent Geiberger was in the money today. A $25,000 check was waiting for him in the clubhouse.

His ace on No. 11 in the Canon Greater Hartford Open earned him the check from tournament sponsor Canon and put him in a position to earn the really big dough on Sunday.

Geiberger shot a 4-under-par 66 today to go 15-under and carry a three-stroke lead into the final round. It's a position he's not been in before. The six-year pro, whose father Al was the first on the PGA Tour to shoot a 59 (in 1977 in Memphis), is looking for his first victory. He's never been closer than third after three rounds.

"I'm just going to approach it the same way I approach any other round," he said.

He and his good friend Pete Jordan, co-leaders after two rounds, went out for dinner Friday and planned to do the same tonight.

"I think I owe him a few beers for that one," Geiberger said.

That one, the ace, was Geiberger's second of his career and the exclamation point on his ferocious back-nine rally that also included three birdies. His three-round score of 195 was a 54-hole record at the TPC at River Highlands.

Ted Tryba had the day's low round, a 62 that tied the course record, and was at 12-under.

Geiberger started the day tied at 11-under and stumbled early. A birdie on No. 2 put him 12-under, but that was the high point on the front. He double bogeyed the next hole and bogeyed Nos. 4 and 5, briefly losing the lead to Skip Kendall, who was 12-under at the turn. Geiberger birdied Nos. 7 and 8 get back to 10-under.

"I wasn't nervous at all. I was putting the ball pretty well. We just tried to regroup and start over," Geiberger said.

After a birdie on No. 10, Geiberger regained the lead for good with his hole-in-one to go 13-under. The lanky 31-year-old Californian aced the 162-yard hole par-3 hole with a 9-iron.

"I knew it was on a pretty good line, I just didn't know how hard it would bounce," he said.

He birdied No. 14, then drove the green on the 296-yard No. 15. He nearly eagled when his 12-foot putt rolled over the left edge of the hole and tapped in for birdie.

"It could not have been a better putt. It just lipped out," he said.

Geiberger is coming off a third-place finish at the Western Open, his best of of the year and may have history on his side. The last two GHO winners have been first-timers -- Stewart Cink in 1997 and Olin Browne in 1998. The first-prize purse in the $2.5 million tournament is $450,000.

Tryba is looking for his second win of the year. He won at FedEx St. Jude Classic in Memphis in June and is 29th on the earnings list with $802,000. He started the day 4-under and built his error-free round with eight birdies, including one on No. 2 that he scored with a 45-foot putt.

"It was the longest putt I've made this year," said Tryba, who also birdied the final hole to sew up sole possession of second place.

"I had no idea I would go out and shoot 8-under and have a chance to win. Everyone hopes for that, but you try to be realistic and try to go out there and just march along and play by the rules and keep your head...and not make mistakes," said Tryba.

Kendall, Justin Leonard and Jay Delsing were four strokes back at 199. Jordan was five back in a group that includes Dave Stockton Jr., Kirk Triplett and Cink.

Geiberger's hole-in-one was the second of the day. Mark Calcavecchia used a 4-iron on the 218-yard No. 5 to ace the par-3 hole.

Because of severe storms predicted for late Sunday afternoon, the field will be grouped in threesomes and go off the No. 1 and No. 10 tees between 7 a.m. and 9 a.m. Organizers said they hoped to finish by 2 p.m. before the rough weather hits.

"This gives us the maximum options in getting the tournament completed tomorrow," said Henry Hughes, the chief operating officer of the PGA Tour. "We have to keep in mind the safety of the fans and the players who are out there."

AP