Golf : Herron takes lead at U.S. Bank

Tim Herron birdied three of his last four holes to take the lead at the U.S. Bank Championship in Milwaukee on Saturday and Tim Clark matched him shot for shot until the 18th hole.

Herron, who has four PGA Tour wins, finished with a 65 and was at 12-under 198 for the tournament. Clark (66) and second-round leader Joe Ogilvie (69) were tied for second one stroke back. Kenny Perry (67) was at 9-under, and Jeff Brehaut (65) and Charlie Wi (66) were four strokes behind.

Herron and Clark, who will be paired together in today’s final round, slogged through the front nine before Herron bogeyed No. 10 to fall to 9-under.

On the 15th hole, Herron made a 4-foot birdie putt and Clark added one from 3 feet. The next hole, Herron sank a 14-footer and Clark answered with another from 3 feet.

It stayed that way until the par-5 18th, when Herron got up and down from the sand to make birdie and move to 12-under.

Clark couldn’t match it, missing a 6-footer.

Ogilvie, who came into Saturday’s play leading by two strokes, went 0 for 11 on putts in the 15 to 20 foot range, including misses for birdies at Nos. 2-6. After playing the first 42 holes with only one bogey, he carded one No. 7 and another on the eighth.

On No. 8, Ogilvie drove the ball just off the fairway, but it hit an object somewhere just in the rough and kicked about 20 yards into trouble, forcing him to hit a save shot back to the fairway to continue.

Ogilvie rebounded with an eagle-birdie combination on the 15th and 16th holes to move back to 11-under, but had to settle for par despite a good opportunity on No. 18.

LPGA

Meaghan Francella needed to win the par-4 15th to extend her match with Maria Hjorth. The local favorite never had a chance after her 7-iron approach sailed long and settled in thick rough next to a back bunker.

“It just kind of goes to show you how my day went,” Francella said.

Standing in the bunker with the ball well above her feet, she gripped down on the steel on her wedge and chopped it out about 5 feet to the fringe.

“I actually hit a decent shot,” Francella said. “I think it was just like one of those things, where it’s like, “Oh, OK.”’

Hjorth ended up halving the hole with a conceded bogey to end Francella’s run in the HSBC Women’s World Match Play Championship in New Rochelle, N.Y. With the 4-and-3 victory, the 40th-seeded Hjorth set up a semifinal match today against Japanese star Ai Miyazato.

“This week has been really, really good off the tee,” Hjorth said. “I guess I’m considered as a long hitter, so that sometimes can be a bit of a help. I think also being able to have spin on the ball on these greens, because they’re starting to firm up a lot and be really quick, is a big advantage, too.”

The 12th-seeded Miyazato birdied the par-5 18th to beat No. 61 Amy Hung 1-up.

With wind gusts again making club selection difficult on the hilly Wykagyl course, the 33rd-seeded Francella, from nearby Port Chester, fell to Hjorth after beating No. 1 Lorena Ochoa 1-up Friday and topping Pat Hurst 2 and 1 on Saturday morning.

“I tried my best,” said Francella, the only American in the final eight. “Unfortunately, I didn’t come out on top.”