PEBBLE BEACH, Calif. -- Payne Stewart shot a 1-over 73 on Saturday and felt a sense of relief. He still had the lead in the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am, and he didn't have to play the wicked winds of Pebble Beach Golf Links.
In some of the nastiest weather since Bing Crosby moved his clambake to the Monterey Peninsula in 1947, Stewart birdied the final hole at Spyglass Hill to get to 10-under 206 for a one-stroke lead over Frank Lickliter.Lickliter also played Spyglass Hill had a 71 for 207, while Craig Stadler was another stroke back after his 72 at Poppy Hills.
Now comes the fun. Everyone moves to Pebble Beach for the final round, and conditions are expected to be just as grueling.
"I'll tell you one thing," Jack Lemmon said after missing yet another cut in the pro-am portion of the AT&T. "Bing is up there laughing his head off. He'd love this."
He might be the only one.
Tiger Woods was in no mood to talk after shooting a 40 on the back nine of Pebble and barely making the cut at 3-over 219 thanks to a two-putt birdie on the 18th. Ken Griffey Jr., who played in Woods' foursome, was asked which was a more formidable challenge -- Roger Clemens or these kind of conditions at Pebble Beach.
"This," Griffey replied. "He'll at least give you a pitch to hit."
David Duval was two strokes off the lead until two double bogeys sent him spiraling to a 76 at -- where else? -- Pebble Beach.
"I could think of better things to do on a day like this," Duval said.
Lickliter and Stewart didn't mind. But then, they didn't have to play a Pebble Beach links course that has six holes on the ocean and exposed to wind gusts up to 35 mph, which made the average score a whopping seven strokes higher than the first two days.
Spyglass and Poppy played only about two strokes higher on average.
"I don't think it was nice on any golf course," Stewart said. "It definitely wouldn't have been a fun day out on Pebble. The holes on the ocean would have been vicious. I'm glad I wasn't there."
Going into the second round, 30 of the top 42 players on the board had already played a more kind and gentle Pebble Beach.
By the end of a day in which players strapped on rain suits, knit caps and mittens to fight temperatures in the upper 40s, Duval and Paul Stankowski (72) had the best three-day total of anyone who had to play Pebble on Saturday -- 213, seven off the lead.
ROYAL CARIBBEAN CLASSIC: At Biscayne, Fla., hometown favorite Bruce Fleisher, bidding to become only the fifth player to win in his Senior PGA Tour debut, shot a 2-under-par 69 Saturday for a two-stroke lead in the Royal Caribbean Classic.
Fleisher is at 135 going into the final round at Crandon Park Golf Course, The Senior Tour's first full-field event this year.
Fleisher, a former club pro from Miami who had a disappointing PGA Tour career, lead after the first round with a 66. Only four others have won in their Senior Tour debuts: Arnold Palmer, Jack Nicklaus, Gary Player and George Archer.
Fleisher, who turned 50 in October, won the 1968 U.S. Amateur championship, but won just once on the PGA Tour.
Graham pushed his drive at No. 18 into the mangroves and took a one-stroke penalty. His third shot landed in a bunker, and he shot back across the green before chipping up and two-putting.
GREG NORMAN INVITATIONAL: Bernhard Langer of Germany, seeking to end a 15-month winless streak, took a one-stroke lead after three rounds of the Greg Norman International by shooting a 4-under-par 69 on Saturday in Sydney, Australia. Langer has a 14-under 205 total.
Australian Anthony Painter fell to second place when he shot a 72.
Painter had a five-shot lead at the turn, but the advantage was wiped out in just four holes as he slipped and Langer fired a 6-under-par 31 on the back nine with four birdies and an eagle.