Happy birthday, dad. Bring home money.
Playing on his 41st birthday, Peter Jacobsen gave himself a gift and set up the possibility of much more as he pulled into a third-round tie with Greg Norman in the Doral-Ryder Open."I got a nice fax from the kids (back home in Portland, Ore.) that said `Go out and shoot a good score. Give yourself a good present,' Jacobsen said. "So I did."
Jacobsen, already a two-time winner this year, gave himself a superlative 64 and completed three rounds at 15-under 201.
Jacobsen birdied five holes in a row, did not make a bogey and did not have a "5" on his card for his jaunt over the defenseless Blue Monster course at Doral.
Norman tied Jacobsen with birdies on the 17th and 18th holes to shoot a third-round 65 and put himself in position to win his third Doral title since 1990. The leaders held a three-shot margin over Nick Faldo and second-round leader Davis Love III going into today's final round. Faldo shot a 66 in Saturday's windy conditions on the 6,939-yard, par-72 Blue Monster course.
Love, who needs a victory to qualify for next month's Masters tournament, shot a 2-under 70.
Another shot back are Hal Sutton, who is looking for his first victory since the 1986 Memorial Tournament, PGA Tour rookie Woody Austin and South African Fulton Allem. Sutton had a 66, while Austin and Allem each shot 68. Five players, including defending Mercedes Championships winner Steve Elkington of Australia and 1988 PGA Champion Jeff Sluman, were at 10-under. Elkington shot 67, Sluman 70.
Jacobsen, the tour's leading money winner, won consecutive titles in February at the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am and the Buick Invitational of California.
Jacobsen, who started the day three shots behind Love, shot the day's low round to pass 13 players on the leaderboard and grab a share of the lead. Jacobsen's birdie run began on the par-5 eighth hole when he two-putted from 20 feet.
He one-putted the next four greens, converting from 30, 3, 12 and 12 feet, to move to 13-under for the tournament. He capped his bogey-free round with birdies at the 15th from 15 feet and 18th from 12 feet.
"Well, I guess a zone would be defined as, pure and simply, confidence where you don't question yourself under pressure or question yourself over a shot," Jacobsen said. "Right now I'm trying to pick my target and make my swing. It's do or die. It's been helpful for me this year just to pick my spot, make my swing and live with the consequences."
Norman is looking for his first victory in the United States since the 1994 Players Championship, in which he set the tournament record of 24-under-par 264, which included only one bogey. He also holds the Doral tournament record of 23-under 265 set in 1993.
At Ojai, Calif., Bruce Devlin didn't break his left leg skiing, in the gym or even walking the dog in icy weather. He broke it last year in a golf cart accident, and it must have been some sort of portent: Just as the leg mended, so, too, did Devlin's game.
Devlin, who failed to finish in the top 10 in all 16 Senior PGA tournaments he entered a year ago, isn't having the same problem this time. His 4-under-par 66 Saturday tied him with Dave Eichelberger for the second-round lead in the $750,000 FHP Health Care Classic.
Devlin and Eichelberger were both 10-under par at 130 entering Sunday's final round of the 54-hole tournament.
Dale Douglass was alone in third at 132 after carding a 65.
First-round leader Dave Stockton, among the most consistent seniors, faded to a 70-133. He bogeyed the 15th and 17th holes.
Also at 133 was Buddy Allin, who moved from 48th place into a tie for fourth with a course-record 61. Allin did not have to make a birdie putt longer than 15 feet on the day, and had only one putt longer than eight feet.