Date: May 18, 2008
Author:

Elkington hangs in there

Steve Elkington remains in contention but in-form American Charles Howell III is the man to catch on the final day of the AT&T Classic. Howell managed a second five-under-par 67 for the week to lead the TPC Sugarloaf tournament with one round remaining. The Augusta native is one shot clear of Kenny Perry (69) with a group of three – David Toms (69), Ryan Palmer (70) and Jonathan Byrd (73) – a further stroke behind. Elkington was the pick of the Australians in the field. His moving-day 68, the best round of the week for the veteran, put him five shots off the pace. Compatriot Nick O&aposHern fired 69 to be six-under-par and the only other Australian to think himself in contention. Stephen Leaney (71) continued his solid but unspectacular week to edge to three-under, with Nick Flanagan (70) two-under and Andrew Buckle (71) one-under will be hoping to push for a place in the top 30 on Sunday. David Lutterus (74) has mixed a couple of tough days with a sparkling 69 in his second round and now sits two over the card. With storms expected Sunday afternoon, players will tee off in threesomes, starting on both the 1st and 10th holes. Howell, Perry and Toms will play together. “It will be different,” Howell said. “It&aposs not the normal twosomes later in the day. From what I understand, it&aposs going to be quite windy. This golf course is really tough in the wind. There&aposs a lot of risk-reward out here. A lot of it.” Third Round of The AT&T Classic (Par 72): -13: Charles Howell III 67 69 67 -12: Kenny Perry 66 69 69 -11: David Toms 67 69 69, Ryan Palmer 66 69 70, Jonathan Byrd 66 66 73 -10: Ryuji Imada 71 69 66, Heath Slocum 69 68 69 -9: Justin Bolli 73 66 68 -8: Omar Uresti 74 69 65, Brett Quigley 70 70 68, Steve Elkington (Australia) 71 69 68, Craig Kanada 68 71 69, Camilo Villegas 68 69 71 -7: James Driscoll 71 72 66, Bubba Watson 75 66 68, Matt Kuchar 71 69 69, Parker McLachlin 66 70 73 Also: -6: Nick O&aposHern (Australia) 69 72 69, Gavin Coles (Australia) 70 70 70 -3: Stephen Leaney (Australia) 70 72 71 -2: Nick Flanagan (Australia) 72 72 70 -1: Andrew Buckle (Australia) 74 70 71 +2: David Lutterus (Australia) 75 69 74