If Fred Funk glances in his rearview mirror with those new eyes he'll see Stuart Appleby bearing down on him at the Kemper Open.
Coasting along with a lead as large as five strokes, Funk barely held on down the stretch at TPC at Avenel and shot a 71 to be at 12-under-par 201 after three rounds, just one stroke ahead of Appleby.A lead that once was as large as five strokes was down to the barest of margins going into the final round.
"I had a chance to separate myself a little bit there when I got to 14 under," said Funk, who made two bogeys over the final five holes. "Now it's going to be a shoot-out."
Funk's even-par round after being two under for the day through 11 holes also let a lot of other people back into the tournament.
Chris DiMarco made a bogey on the last hole and was at 203.
Tommy Tolles, the sweet swinger whose game has suddenly gone sour this year, was three strokes back at 204. Clark Dennis made bogeys on two of the last three holes and was at 205, along with Scott Hoch and Brad Fabel.
Starting the day with a three-stroke lead over Craig Parry, Appleby and DiMarco, Funk was just trying to make pars, avoid mistakes and challenge the field to come after him on a day when a fickle wind made the course play with much more difficulty.
The strategy worked for most of the day. Funk held his ground - making birdies on Nos. 3 and 11 - and no one made a major move, except for Tolles, who shot a 66, and Hoch, who had a 68.
Funk managed to avoid mistakes until No. 14, the relatively easy 301-yard par-4. He drove into the right rough and played a good shot to the green but could get no spin on it out of the high grass and it rolled into the back fringe.
From there he chipped poorly, leaving it 10 feet from the hole, and missed the par-saving putt for his first bogey of the day.
At that time his lead over Appleby, who was playing in the group in front of Funk and followed an opening bogey with nine consecutive pars before making birdies on Nos. 11 and 14, was back to three strokes.
Appleby got it to two strokes with an 8-foot birdie putt on No. 17, just moments after DiMarco, his playing partner, rolled in a 9-footer to also get to 11 under.
DiMarco, who slipped to five back with a bogey on No. 5, closed strong with birdies on Nos. 13, 16 and 17 before making a bogey on No. 18.
Funk, meanwhile, barely curled in a 4-footer to save par on No. 16 and missed a 5-footer for par on No. 17.
"I started second-guessing myself on the back nine with the wind," Funk said.
The 41-year-old Funk, playing just days after laser eye surgery to improve his vision, has led after each round, following an opening 64 with a 66.
Chasing him is one of the talented under-30 crowd on the PGA Tour.
Appleby, a 27-year-old Australian who won over $1 million last year, displayed remarkable poise in his round on a blustery Saturday.
"In today's weather you more save your round than create your round," he said. "I think it's going to to be better for me if it's like this tomorrow."
Also in the hunt is another of the young talents on tour. Tolles, 31, has yet to win on the PGA Tour but has appeared on the verge of a breakthrough for the last two years, saving his best play for the tournaments with the best fields.
NATIONWIDE CHAMPIONSHIP: The large gallery at the Golf Club of Georgia couldn't take its eyes off Gary Player. Gil Morgan was more interested in someone else.
Morgan, locked in a season-long battle with Hale Irwin for dominance of the Senior PGA Tour, shot a 3-under-par 69 Saturday to share the lead with Bob Eastwood after the second round of the Nationwide Championship.
Morgan and Eastwood both had an 8-under 136, but the good doctor didn't lose sight of Irwin, who was just four shots back after his second straight 70.
"He's still out there," Morgan said. "He can catch up pretty quick because he's such a good player. When I was standing there at 18, I looked at the scoreboard and wondered where Hale was."
LPGA MICHELOB LIGHT CLASSIC: Donna Andrews is threatening to rain on Annika Sorenstam's parade.
Andrews, who began the day at even par, shot a 6-under-par 66 to take a two-stroke lead over Sorenstam, the first-round leader and defending champion in the rain-shortened LPGA Michelob Light Classic in St. Louis.
After an opening 67, Sorenstam said the 6,337-yard Forest Hills Country Club is like her home course. She is looking to win the event for the third time in four years and she entered the second round with a one-shot lead, but finished with a 73.