Pair of eagles allows Tolliver to take lead

Billy Joe Tolliver had a pair of eagles to take a narrow lead over six-time champion Rick Rhoden in the 16th annual American Century Celebrity Golf Championship at Lake Tahoe on Saturday.

Tolliver, a former NFL quarterback who won the tournament in 1996, made a 40-foot eagle putt on the 501-yard, par-5 18th to shoot a 3-under-par 69 and post 56 points in the modified Stableford scoring system that puts a premium on eagles and birdies.

Rhoden, the former pitcher who has won the tourney more than anyone else, had 54 points after carding four birdies and two bogeys for a 2-under 70. Chris Chandler also eagled the last hole for a 70 and 51 points, followed by Trent Dilfer with 48 points and Mark Rypien (Shadle Park, Washington State) with 47.

“It will probably come down to the last hole,” Rhoden predicted for today’s final round, to be televised by NBC Sports.

Tolliver hit a 5-iron about 220 yards to the 536-yard, par-5 fourth and made a 15-foot eagle putt “on the last roll.” On the 18th, he hit a drive about 370 yards then a sand wedge about 130 yards to within 40 feet “and got lucky.”

“The tough part for the rest of us is (Rhoden) had his bad round today and still shot under par,” Tolliver said.

Rhoden, who played in the U.S. Senior Open two years ago and qualified for this year’s Senior PGA Championship, said he missed several makeable birdie putts at the 7,072-yard Edgewood Tahoe Golf Course in Stateline, Nev.

“It was just sort of a ho-hum round,” Rhoden said. “I only birdied one of the par-5s and you have to birdie at least two of them I think, two or three.”

Dan Quinn, the former NHL player who won three of the last four tourneys at Tahoe, shot a 71 Saturday was in eighth place with 41 total points.

The modified Stableford awards six points for eagle, three points for birdie, one for par, zero for bogey and minus two for double bogey or worse.

Tolliver said he would have had a better score but shanked his tee shot on the par-3 12th.

“It was a stellar shot. Dead sideways. Very impressive,” he joked after the round. “I’m about 3 under at the time thinking, ‘Yeah, you’re a pretty decent player.’ And I still hit shank-bait out there, nothing to it. I like to show them my skills once in a while.”

One of the largest galleries followed the threesome at the bottom of the leaderboard – Charles Barkley, Chris Webber and Brad Garrett.

Garrett, a standup comedian who co-starred as the hulking, older brother Robert in “Everybody Loves Raymond,” entertained the crowd with nonstop one-liners as Barkley and Webber battled it out for a personal $50,000 side wager to benefit charity.

By the end of the day, Barkley had three bogeys and 15 double bogeys or worse and was in last place with minus-57 points. Garrett is in second-to-last with minus-53 and Webber just ahead at minus-48 points.

PGA Tour

Australian rookie Brendan Jones shot a 6-under 66 to take a one-shot lead after the third round of the B.C. Open in Endicott, N.Y.

Jones, whose best PGA Tour finish this year was a tie for 14th at the Zurich Classic, finished at 19-under 197, one shot off the tournament record for 54 holes set in 1982 by Calvin Peete.

One shot back were Ryan Palmer (67), Jason Bohn (66) and India’s Arjun Atwal (65), who had a chance to tie Jones but missed a 4-foot birdie putt on No. 18.

John Rollins, Canadian David Hearn, and J.P. Hayes began the day tied and finished the same way as each carded 64 to finish at 17-under 199. They were even with second-round leader David Edwards (70) and Matt Hendrix (69), who each rallied on the back side after faltering early.

LPGA Tour

Janice Moodie patiently worked her way through tricky wind conditions at picturesque Glen Arbour in Halifax, Nova Scotia.

The 32-year-old Scot topped the Canadian Women’s Open field for the third straight round, shooting an even-par 72 for a one-stroke lead over Angela Stanford.

Coming off a sixth-place tie Sunday in the English Open, Moodie had a 9-under 207 total. Stanford birdied the final hole for a 70, and Dorothy Delasin shot a 69 – matching the best round of the day – to join South Korea’s Il Mi Chung (72) at 7 under.

Rathdrum’s Tracy Hanson shot a 76 and is at 223.

Public Links

Clay Ogden, who beat Michelle Wie in the quarterfinals of the U.S. men’s Public Links Championship, won the title with a 1-up victory over Martin Ureta in Lebanon, Ohio.

Ogden, a junior at Brigham Young University, earned the invitation to next April’s Masters that had been coveted by the 15-year-old Wie, who was trying to become the tournament’s first female participant.

Ogden and Ureta, a junior at North Carolina, both earned exemptions into this year’s U.S. Amateur.

•Eun Jun Lee of South Korea rallied from five holes down and defeated Tiffany Chudy with a par putt on the 37th hole in the first-ever playoff at the U.S. Women’s Amateur Public Links championship in Kansas City, Mo.

Chudy, a sophomore at Florida, was up by one going into the 36th, but missed a 4-foot putt for par that could have clinched a victory.

Chudy’s tee shot on the extra hole went into the trees, but she made a remarkable shot to get on the fairway, 25 yards short of the green. She missed an 8-footer for a par, while Lee made a 2-foot putt for the win at Swope Memorial Golf Course.