Weibring moves one ahead of Stiles in Arkansas

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FORT SMITH, Ark. -- Matt Weibring fired a 4-under-par 66 Saturday to take the 54-hole lead in the Fort Smith Classic, the 10th stop on the 2008 Nationwide Tour schedule. Weibring's 13-under 197 total is one shot better than 2006 champion Darron Stiles (68) and four in front of Kris Blanks (66).

Matt Weibring has made eagles in two of his three rounds so far. (Badz/PGA TOUR/WireImage)

Inside the Numbers

Weibring thru 54 Holes

Category Total Rank Eagles 2 T1 Birdies 11 T34 Pars 39 T3 Bogeys 2 T60 Double Bogeys 0 N/A Other 0 N/A Driving Accuracy 69.2% T20 Driving Distance 289.0 yds. 23 Greens in Regulation 70.4% T14 Putts per Round 26.7 T6 Putts per GIR 1.684 11 Sand Saves 100.0% T1

Daniel Summerhays (65), David Lutterus (68), Kris Cox (70), David Morland IV (70) and Rich Morris (72) are five back of the leader heading into Sunday's final round in the $550,000 event.

The 28-year-old Texan began the third round at Hardscrabble County Club one shot back of playing partners Stiles and Morris (72-202) and weaved his way to the top with four birdies and an eagle through 14 holes. Weibring stood at 14 under at that point and three better than both Stiles and Morris, a former Arkansas Razorback who Monday qualified his way into the field of 156.

"I played really, really solid today. I just tried to worry about my own game and not focus on anybody else," he said. "I putted good, hit the ball good and made some good up-and-downs. I can't complain."

With Saturday's play in threesomes in an attempt to finish before some projected afternoon thunderstorms, Weibring did his best not to pay attention to the leaderboards.

"I kind of had the feeling just by the people around us that it was the three of us at the top," he said. "I guess we were all in or near the lead but I can't worry about what they do or what anybody else does."

What Weibring has been doing is playing relatively mistake-free golf for 54 holes. His only two bogeys of the week both came in Saturday's third round and both the results of three-putts.

Stiles, currently No. 6 on the money list, was never able to find the rhythm that produced his 63 on Friday. He did turn a three-shot deficit into one with an eight-foot birdie putt at No. 17, where Weibring suffered bogey.

"That 5-iron on No. 17 was probably the highlight of my afternoon," said Stiles, who has hit 12 of 18 greens in regulation each day. "I played steady and the mistakes I made I got myself out of by some good chips and some good putts. Yesterday I hit the ball pretty close and today I had only a handful of shots inside of 15 feet. I didn't play bad, I just didn't get it going."

Morris, a 31-year old Fayetteville resident, had the leader within hailing distance when a couple of errant tee shots on the final two holes resulted in a bogey and a double bogey, his final tee shot at No. 18 wound up out of bounds.

"Maybe it was a bit of nerves there at the end but I felt great the whole day," he said. "It was a matter of a couple better swings. If that ball stays in bounds it's a different story, but that's how the cookie crumbles."

Third-Round Notes: Third-round play was suspended due to threatening conditions at 9:15 a.m. Play resumed at 10:02 a.m. after a 47-minute delay. ... The third-round scoring average was 70.180. ... Final-round play will be in twosomes with the first tee time at 8:21 a.m. The expected finish time is 5:00 p.m. CT. ... Third-round leaders/co-leaders have won seven times in the tournament's 10-year history. ... Weibring is making his third start in this event. He finished 66th in 2006 and tied for 63rd last year.