Third round: Ridings, Howell tied heading into Sunday
VERONA, N.Y. (AP) -- Tag Ridings stood over his ball at the final hole and gently tapped a short uphill putt for par. When he pulled it and his ball stopped just shy of the cup, he found himself tied for the lead in the Turning Stone Championship.
Seeking his first PGA TOUR win, Ridings wasn't dismayed as he pondered playing the final round in a twosome with Charles Howell III.
"I putted really well, especially the first two rounds," Ridings said Saturday after shooting a 1-under 71 to match Howell (69) at 8 under. "Today, I made a couple that kept me hanging in there."
Ridings has missed 12 cuts this year, including six in a row, and entered Turning Stone winless in 130 PGA TOUR starts.
"I've been in position a lot out here and haven't gotten it done," Ridings said. "But a lot of times I have gotten it done on other tours, so it's not quite an alien experience."
Jeff Overton (73), who led both the first and second rounds by one shot, was tied for third at 7 under with Brian Davis (69), Jason Day (71) and Kyle Thompson (69).
Another shot behind were Dustin Johnson (70) and Robert Allenby (71), while Davis Love III (66), Charles Warren (67), and Mark Hensby (72) were tied at 5 under.
Because of two weather delays on Friday, 23 players failed to finish the second round and had to complete it Saturday morning. Love, coming back from an ankle injury suffered a year ago, then reeled off four straight birdies on the back nine to start the third round and move into contention, an early indication the 7,482-yard Atunyote Golf Club course might be playing easier because the weather wasn't quite so harsh. The players also were allowed to lift and clean their balls.
Ridings trailed Overton by one shot at the start of play and played the front nine to even par with a pair of birdies and two bogeys. He sank a 23-foot birdie putt to reach 8 under at the par-3 11th hole and gained a two-shot lead with a 16-foot birdie putt at No. 15 as the sun broke through and the temperature rose into the mid-50s.
Overton never mounted a charge. He bogeyed No. 1, reeled off 13 straight pars, and made bogey at 15 to fall to 6 under as he sputtered with his putter for the second straight day. Overton, who needed 34 putts on Friday, had 32 on Saturday but rallied with birdie at 16, his only birdie of the day.
"It'd be nice to be in the clubhouse and put some pressure on the other guys," Overton said. "I can't really dwell on the bad putts. I felt like I hit a lot of good ones. Sometimes you just have those days they don't drop."
Hensby, who began the day three shots behind, made three birdies on the front side and another at the par-5 12th hole to take sole possession of the lead at 9 under, one shot ahead of Ridings and Thompson.
Hensby's lead didn't last long. He bogeyed Nos. 13 and 14, just as Thompson had done only moments earlier. Thompson sank a 58-foot birdie putt at No. 15 to join a logjam of six players at 7 under.
"You could take all the putts I made Thursday and Friday and they wouldn't add up to that one," said Thompson, who finished with his third straight birdie at 18.
The first two days were plagued by temperatures in the 40s, 20 mph wind, rain, and even a brief shower of hail that caused one of two delays Friday.
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| TRIVIA QUESTION | ||
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| Saturday's Best |
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The par-5, 580-yard 12th was the easiest with a Saturday scoring average of 4.530.
The par-4, 447-yard 2nd was toughest with a Saturday scoring average of 4.265.
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Steve Allan and Charles Warren both eagled from the fairway on the par-5 18th to help them to third-round scores of 70 and 67 respectively. 
Davis Love III is hoping to make something of the Fall Series, and he went in the right direction with a 6-under 66 in the third round. | QUOTE OF THE DAY | ||
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ONE YEAR AFTER INJURY, LOVE RETURNING TO FORM
By Bruce Berlet, Special to PGATOUR.COM
| 3 | Number of Australian golfers in contention headed into the final round |
| 8 | As in a tie for -- co-leader Charles Howell III's best finish so far this season |
| 29 | The number of places up the leaderboard that Davis Love III jumped in the third round |
VERONA, N.Y. -- Davis Love III celebrated a double anniversary Thursday, one he didn't want, and one he did.
The opening round of the Turning Stone Resort Championship marked the first anniversary of surgery to repair tore ligaments in Love's left ankle sustained when he stepped into a hole playing a casual round of golf.
It also was Love's first round on the PGA TOUR since Aug. 17, when he tied for 60th in the Wyndham Championship. Unfortunately, that kind of finish has been commonplace for the future Hall of Famer since his misstep 13 months ago.
But a 6-under-par 66 Saturday that started with four birdies in a chilling rain and ended as the low round of the week at Atunyote Golf Club dramatically improved Love's psyche.
"It's nice to be playing again on the weekend and teeing off (Sunday) at 1 o'clock instead of at 10 in the morning," said Love, who vaulted from a tie for 38th to a share of ninth entering the final round of the second leg of the Fall Series. "And it's nice to be where I am after being 3 over after (six) holes Thursday."
Ah, Thursday, that wanted and unwanted anniversary.
Now, Love is only three shots behind co-leaders Charles Howell III and Tag Ridings, but by the end of Saturday's round, he felt right in contention, playing behind the leaders who had teed off on the opposite side.
• To read the remainder of this story, click here.
| What the leaders said... | ||||||||||||||||
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TURNING STONE RESORT CHAMPIONSHIP: THIRD-ROUND NOTEBOOK
By Joe Chemycz, PGA TOUR Staff
• A 54-hole cut was made due to the fact that more than 78 professionals made the 36-hole cut. The field was reduced to the low-70 and ties. A total of 71 players advanced to Sunday's final round.
• Sunday's final round will be played in twosomes off the 1st tee. The expected local finish time is 6 p.m. (ET). Joey Sindelar of nearby Horseheads, NY, will be the first player off the 1st tee starting at 8:10 a.m. Sindelar will play as a single.
• Davis Love III put together the best round of the week, a 6-under 66 that vaulted him from a tie for 38th to a tie for 9th place. Love has carded scores of 75-70-66 to move up the leaderboard. His opening day total featured 37 putts. Love needed only 26 putts today.
• Charles Warren also charged into contention with a 67 that featured a 6-under 30 on the back nine. Warren rolled in eagle putts of 30 feet, 5 inches at No. 12 and then holed his third shot from 123 yards at the par-5, 18th for a second eagle. Warren is currently tied for 9th place, at 5-under 211.
• Several players at the top of the leaderboard are seeking their first career win.
| Best TOUR finishes from players looking for first win | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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• To read the remainder of these notes, click here.
THINGS TO WATCH ON SUNDAY
1. Davis Love III. The 2008 Payne Stewart Award winner has high hopes for the Fall Series now that he is back in shape. He made a big play for the lead in the third round and is only a few shots back heading into Sunday. Could this be his comeback?
2. Robert Allenby. The Aussie has had sparkling year on TOUR -- seven top-10 finishes and 15 top 25s -- and all he's missing is a win. When the final round begins, Allenby will be just two shots off the lead; that's nothing on a Sunday.
3. Jason Day. There was much fuss made over the talented rookie before he joined the TOUR for the 2008 season; he had a lot of pressure and expectations to live up to. It's been a tough year because of that, and the injuries he's been battling, for the young Australian. He has only earned two top-10 finishes, but he's just one shot off the lead after 54 holes. Can he pull off a rookie win?
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