Cink sinks pair to lead by two
Slocum in second at the Travelers
Stewart Cink birdied the final two holes yesterday to take a two-stroke lead into the final round of the Travelers Championship in Cromwell, Conn.
Cink followed rounds of 66 and 64 with a 5-under-par 65 to reach 15-under 195 on the TPC River Highlands course, the best 54-hole score of his career.
Heath Slocum (64) was second, and defending champion Hunter Mahan (67), Vijay Singh (64), Kenny Perry (65), Tommy Armour III (65), and Kevin Streelman (62) were at 12 under.
On a day when 24 golfers shot 66 or better, 17 ended up within five shots of the lead.
Cink expects to have to be at 20 under today to have a chance to win. He is looking for his first victory this year after six top-10 finishes.
Cink had dropped into a tie with Slocum after hitting his tee shot on 16 into the water, but rebounded with an 11-foot birdie putt on 17, and hit an approach within 2 feet on 18.
"I felt like I gained some momentum back and put myself in a good mind-set for tomorrow," Cink said.
With rain forecast this afternoon, tournament officials decided to start the final round early, with threesomes going off holes 1 and 10 at 7:30 a.m. The leaders are scheduled to tee off at 9:30 a.m. and the officials expect the tournament to be over before 2.
LPGA - Suzann Pettersen shot a 5-under 67 to open a three-stroke lead over Morgan Pressel and South Koreans Eun-Hee Ji and Inbee Park after the third round of the Wegmans LPGA in Rochester, N.Y.
"It's not like I'm surprised I'm playing solid, but I have less expectations, so maybe that's good," Pettersen, a five-time Tour winner in 2007, said after a bogey-free round got her to 14-under 202.
Ji, who has ties for fourth and ninth in her second year on Tour, holed out from 170 yards to open with an eagle and ran up six more birdies for a 64 and a second-place tie at 11 under.
The 19-year-old Park (69) shot her third sub-70 round. And Pressel (71) got her only birdie on the last hole.
"Nobody is unbeatable out there," Pressel said. "I'm not going to say I can't catch [Pettersen], but she played great today."
Ai Miyazato and Hee-Won Han were at 9 under.
Top-ranked Lorena Ochoa (68) birdied three of the first four holes, lost some momentum on the back nine, but finished with an eagle and a birdie to reach 6 under. Michelle Wie was 1 under after a 73.
European - Martin Kaymer closed in on a Ryder Cup berth when he shot a 67 for a six-stroke lead heading into the final day of the BMW International Open in Munich.
The 23-year-old German sank a 15-foot birdie putt on the final hole to move to 18-under 198 and add a stroke to his lead after Friday's breakaway round of 63. A victory today would move him to sixth on Europe's Ryder Cup list and make him the first German to win the 20-year-old tournament.
British Amateur - At Turnberry, Scotland, Dutchman Reinier Saxton beat 17-year-old Englishman Tommy Fleetwood, 3 and 2, in strong wind and rain in the final.
US Women's Amateur Publinx - UCLA star Tiffany Joh won the title for the second time in three years, rallying to win four of the last six holes for a 2-and-1 victory over Southern Cal recruit Jennifer Song in Erin, Wis.
