Hard Course No Problem For Janzen

Golf

Lee Janzen proved again he plays his best when conditions are the toughest with a 69 Saturday on the firm and fast Stadium Course to take a three-stroke lead into the final round of The Players Championship in Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla.

Janzen, whose one-stroke victory here in 1995 was the only winning margin in the tournament fewer than four strokes since 1991, was at 10-under-par 206, with Glen Day at 209 and British Open champion Justin Leonard at 211.

The 69 by Janzen on Saturday was especially impressive on a day in which no one shot below 68 and there were six rounds in the 60s.

“The other guys will have to shoot at the pins and that makes it tougher,” Janzen said. “I can’t do anything to let them catch up. As long as I make pars that will help me.”

Janzen stretched his lead when he played the last 10 holes 3 under par, managing not to make a bogey while rolling in birdie putts on Nos. 9, 14 and 16.

Leonard, who like Janzen fares well when birdies are hard to come by, shot a 70 in the third round with 12 one-putt greens.

Tom Lehman, Phil Mickelson, Mark Calcavecchia and Scott Hoch were at 212 - still a doable six strokes back - with Nick Price, Ernie Els, Fred Couples, Billy Mayfair and Lee Westwood among those at 213.

LPGA Nabisco Dinah Shore

Pat Hurst, playing through chilly rain and gusty winds, kept hitting fairways and sinking putts to cling to the lead in the Nabisco Dinah Shore in Rancho Mirage, Calif.

Hurst shot a 2-under-par 70 to go to 6-under for the tournament, the season’s first major. She’s one stroke in front of Liselotte Neumann. Coming off a win last weekend at Phoenix, Neumann stayed close with a 71 on a day of weird weather at Mission Hills Country Club.

Karrie Webb and Helen Alfredsson both had 70s and were three shots behind Hurst. Donna Andrews shot a 71 and was another stroke back, while a group at 1-under included Nancy Lopez, with a 73, and Laura Davies, with a 70.

Hurst, a former NCAA champion at San Jose State, is the only American player in the top four after three rounds of the tournament. Neumann and Alfredsson are Swedish and Webb is Australian.

Also at 1-under heading into the final round are Mayomi Hirase, Helen Dobson and Lisa Hackney.

Rosie Jones, who began the third round just a shot behind the leaders after shooting a 66, ballooned to a 78.

SW Bell Dominion seniors

Bob Dickson shot a 5-under-par 67 to take a one-stroke lead into the final round in San Antonio.

Dickson, who tied for second at the 1996 Dominion event, had seven birdies for a two-day total of 7-under 137 at the par-72, 6,835-yard course.

MEMO: This sidebar appeared with the story: ON TV Noon: Men’s TPC (NBC) 1 p.m.: Women’s Dinah Shore (ABC) 3:30: Seniors Southwestern Bell (Golf Channel)