HILTON HEAD ISLAND, S.C. -- Ernie Els applied the lessons he learned in the first two days of the MCI Classic, shooting a 5-under 66 Saturday to take a two-stroke lead over Steve Lowery.
For two rounds, Els watched his playing partner, Davis Love III, pick apart Harbour Town's narrow fairways and tiny greens on the way to the second-round lead. But Els was the third-round master, outdueling Love as the two were paired again.Love, who has won four times at Harbour Town, fell apart midway through the round with three straight bogeys. But he had tap-in birdies on the 17th and 18th holes to finish with a 70 and move within three strokes of Els.
"I think I've put the work in and it's time, I guess, for it to pay off," said Els, the two-time U.S. Open champion who has not won since Nissan Open last year. "I feel like my game's a lot closer than it seems."
For a while, it looked like Love was lost on a course that he -- well, loves. After matching shots with Els through the first seven holes, Love had a string of bogeys and wayward shots.
He stubbed a chip on the eighth hole for one bogey, needed a drop on the ninth for his second and hit into the water on No. 10 for a third consecutive mistake. Just when it looked like he would make his fourth bogey after hitting a marshall with his tee shot on the 11th hole, Love saved par with a 20-foot putt.
"By then I was just laughing about it. Every time I made a mistake he was picking up shots," said Love, who had only had one bogey and one double bogey the first two rounds. The par at No. 11 "seemed to start me on the right direction again," Love said.
Two of his last swings brought him back into contention. He stuck an 8-iron within a foot on the par-3 17th, then knocked a 7-iron within about the same distance on the 18th hole.
"I got myself back in it," Love said. "But I just got caught behind a guy who was playing so well."
But Els wasn't the only one on the first, mild, breezy day that the seaside resort is famous for. Lowery had a 66. Scott Hoch shot a 64. Larry Mize had a 65, his lowest round here in six years. Chris Perry tied the back nine record of 29 for his 65. Curtis Strange, who played only nine rounds all year, shot a 65.
On Thursday, only 36 of 132 players equaled or broke par 71. Two days later, only 13 of the remaining 72 were over par.
SENIOR TOUR: At Palm Beach Gardens, Fla., Doug Tewell shot a 6-under-par 66 Saturday in the second round of the PGA Seniors' Championship and was the clubhouse leader at 10-under 134 when play was suspended for the sixth time in three days.
Tewell was four shots ahead of Dana Quigley when play was halted by heavy rain. Some 91 players were unable to start or finish the second round, including Quigley, who was 6 under through six holes.
LPGA TOUR: At Lincoln, Calif., defending champion Juli Inkster shot a 6-under-par 66 on Saturday to increase her lead to three strokes after the third round of the LPGA Longs Drugs Challenge.
Inkster, the Hall of Famer playing about 125 miles from her Los Altos home, had a 13-under 203 total on the Twelve Bridges Golf Club course.