Langham increases his lead to two at Willow Creek  PGA TOUR Staff SANDY, Utah -- Franklin Langham shot a 5-under 66 on Saturday to increase his lead at the Nationwide Tour's $500,000 Utah EnergySolutions Championship.  A strong back nine Saturday kept Franklin Langham out front. (Drew Hallowell/WireImage)
Langham moved to a tournament-record 17-under-par 196 and a two-shot advantage over Richard Johnson (67), while Jeremy Anderson (66) and Craig Lile (68) are three shots back. Langham's round was highlighted by birdie putts from 35 and 40 feet on the par-4 eighth hole and par-4 13th hole, respectively. "I started off solid again today," said the 39-year-old Langham. "I've been rolling it well all week and that continued today." Langham was just 1 under on the day through 11 holes, but consecutive birdies on Nos. 12-14 and another at the par-5 17th hole helped him pad his lead. "I feel comfortable standing over the ball right now," said Langham, who hit six of 12 fairways and 11 of 18 greens in regulation. "You see them go in and then you start expecting more to go in." A win on Sunday would be the third of Langham's career -- to go along with trophies won at the 1993 Permian Basin Open and the 2004 Rheem Classic. If he is to succeed, he'll do so against some top-notch competition, including 12 players within five shots of the lead -- including current PGA TOUR members Craig Lile (three back) and Mark Hensby (four back). "I'll just keep doing the same thing," said Langham. "It has been awhile since I won, but it if is your time then it is your time. I'll just stick to the same swing thoughts and add them up at the end. You always try to think back to the times when you won and fall back on those positive thoughts." Johnson will be playing in the final group for the third time this season. He took a one-stroke lead into the last 18 holes at the BMW Charity Pro-Am at The Cliffs and the Northeast Pennsylvania Classic, finishing in a tie for third and second place, respectively. "I've been in too many final pairings this year without winning," said Johnson. "I've won a couple before (in my career). It all comes down to controlling the speed of my golf swing. I tend to get a little quick with it." The round of the day was turned in by former Georgia Tech All-American Matt Weibring. The son of Champions Tour member D.A. Weibring recorded one eagle, eight birdies and two bogeys for a course record-tying 8-under 63. "That was a lot of fun," said Weibring, who needed just 24 putts. "I was just having fun and enjoying the ride. I did everything good. I putted extremely well and I managed my game really well." The ride has been bumpy for Weibring this year. He sits 91st on the money list, with just six made cuts in 18 starts entering the week. His 63 on Saturday bettered his season-best round of 67 -- set during the first round of the Northeast Pennsylvania Classic -- and his career best 64 during the final round of the 2003 Chattanooga Classic. "I've been shooting a lot of 70s and 71s and those just don't cut it out here," said Weibring. "I have seven more tournaments, so I'm just trying to have some good finishes this fall and get into the top 25." Weibring was the first player to tee off on Saturday, making the cut on the number at 4 under and moving all the way into ninth place. Instead of playing alone, he decided to play with a non-competing marker -- which turned out to be local phenom Tony Finau, who missed the cut this week. "It was fun playing with Tony," said Weibring. "I was paired by myself in Arkansas and I was miserable. I couldn't get into any rhythm. So I decided to play with a marker today. We had at least 100 people following us today ... a lot of them family and friends of Tony. They were going crazy. They were cheering for me just as loud as they were for him." Third-Round News & Notes: The 54-hole leader has gone on to win 13 of 24 events this season, including most recently Roland Thatcher at the Cox Classic. At the Utah EnergySolutions Championship, the 54-hole leader has won five of eight times -- including most recently Garrett Willis in 2005. ... Players without a bogey on Saturday included Mark Hensby (67), Todd Demsey (64), D.A. Points (64), Mark Wiebe (66), Brad Adamonis (66), Fran Quinn (66) and Aaron Watkins (68). There have been 25 such rounds this week. Hensby has now played the last 37 holes without a bogey. ... Sunday's winner will take home $90,000 out of the $500,000 overall purse. |
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