Veteran Johnson leads Oregon Classic by one over three  PGA TOUR Staff JUNCTION CITY, Ore. -- Richard Johnson has been here before. After finishing runner-up twice this season, the No. 11-ranked player on the 2007 Nationwide Tour money list shot a 4-under-par 68 to take a one-stroke lead on Saturday and will try to hold on Sunday to earn his first victory of the season.  Richard Johnson has finished second twice so far this season. (Jim Rogash/WireImage)
Johnson came in second last week at the Utah Energy Solutions Championship and had a one-stroke lead heading into the 17th hole at the Northeast Pennsylvania Classic, but put his approach shot into a creek near the green, which resulted in a double bogey and a runner-up finish. The 35-year-old graduate of Augusta State, originally from Cardiff, Wales, is one of the top-ranked players on tour without a win this season behind five top-10 finishes. "Not a bad spot to be," Johnson said of taking the lead into the fourth round. "There are some good players up there with me, too. If I play good tomorrow, I've got a chance. They are going to come after me, but it's better to be in this situation than five strokes back." Jason Day, who spent the day limping due to a nasty blister on his right heel, was even par for his day through 16 holes, but finished birdie-eagle to end the day at 14 under par and in a group with Brad Elder and Jon Turcott one stroke behind Johnson. The 19-year-old Australian is No. 3 on the money list and approximately $60,000 behind money leader Roland Thatcher, who is three strokes behind at 12 under par. Day became the youngest player ever to win a PGA TOUR co-sanctioned event earlier this season at the Legend Financial Group Classic. He has seven top-10 finishes and has earned more than $320,000 this season. "I hung in there well today. After really not doing much, to finish with a birdie and eagle on the last two holes puts me in great position," Day said. "I tried to hang in there as much as I could. I told my caddie I was going to finish with a birdie on 17 and an eagle on 18. Turned out I was right." This is Turcott's best standing through three rounds since he led heading into the final round of last year's Showdown at Somerby. Turcott finished the tournament a carreer-best tie for sixth. He has one top-10 finish this year and has made the cut in just four of 15 events. "It's important to play well for me. I've been getting off to good starts to each round this week," the University of Wisconsin graduate said. "The putts are starting to roll in. I love this course and I love the weather here. It's peaceful here. It's a great course." Elder has four top-10 finishes including a victory at the Wichita Open and ranks No. 15 on the money list. Elder's win was his second victory at the Wichita Open, where he also won in 1999. The victory came after a rough three-year stretch in which injuries pushed him to finish the 2004 season at No. 103 on the money list, sat out the 2005 season and finished last year at No. 144 on the money list. Elder has bounced back this year, making 15 of 21 cuts. "I've been through a lot. It's nice to remind yourself that you can get back to this level and compete again at this level," Elder said after his win. "I give a lot of credit to my instructor Dr. Jim Suttie down in Florida for getting me back to where I was when I was playing well. He has plenty of clients and he doesn't have to help me. It's nice of him to take the time and help me. I'm swinging and playing as well as I ever have and I can't thank him enough." Johnson, who is sponsored by Nike, noticed Day airing out his blistered heel near the 18th green following his round and took the opportunity to point out what he suspected to be the reason for the blister. "The new Adidas shoe, look at him," Johnson playfully joked. "It was the sock!" Day responded with a smile. Third-Round News & Notes: The third-round scoring average of 70.312 is the lowest single-round scoring average in tournament history. The previous best was 70.716 for the third round in 2002. ... If Thatcher can pull out a victory, he would join Nick Flanagan as the second player this season to earn an instant three-win promotion to the PGA TOUR. ... The third-round leader has won four times in seven tries at the Oregon Classic. Roland Thatcher, Todd Fischer, B.J. Staten, Tyrone van Aswegen, Tom Scherrer, Scott Parel, Justin Smith and Lee Williams recorded bogey-free rounds. |
PGATOUR.com is part of the Turner Sports and Entertainment Digital Network