FORT WORTH - AFP Â
Charlie Wi
FORT WORTH - AFP
South Korea\'s Charlie Wi fired a four-under par 66 Saturday to grab a one-shot lead after the third round of the US PGA Colonial after David Toms squandered a seven-shot lead to start the day.
Wi seized the lead with a birdie and a bogey by Toms on the par-three 16th hole and finished 54 holes on 13-under par 197 with Toms staggering in with a 74 after setting a PGA 36-hole record with back-to-back 62s.
The South Korean is seeking his first US tour triumph and his first of any kind since the 2006 Malaysian Open.
\"I didn\'t think I\'d be able to close the gap like I did,\" said Wi, who began the round just hoping to get within three or four strokes.
\"Starting the day, I was hoping that maybe I might be three-to-four shots nearer David, but to be one in front of him, I\'m very pleasantly surprised.
\"I played really well today and David didn\'t. I know that tomorrow he is going to be geared up to play, so it will come down to the end and hopefully I\'m the one finishing on top.\"
Toms opened with a birdie but followed with back-to-back bogeys, his first bogeys of the tournament, and Toms took another bogey at the par-four sixth.
\"I felt after the first six holes, I was just hanging on... trying not to make a mistake,\" Toms said. \"Maybe I\'ll go out there with a little pressure off of me and see if we can do better (Sunday).\"
Toms appeared to right the ship with a birdie at the par-five 11th but after taking a double-bogey at the par-four 14th, his edge over Wi sank to a single stroke.
A storm delay struck with Toms and Wi on the 15th hole and on their next hole, the skid Toms had been suffering all day reached its low point when he staggered out of the lead.
Wi opened with back-to-back birdies, took his lone bogey of the day at the fourth but bounced back with birdies at the par-three eighth, par-five 11th and 16th.
Australia\'s John Senden was third on 201 after a third-round 70, one stroke ahead of countryman Stuart Appleby and American Paul Goydos, who each fired 67s on Saturday, and American Mark Wilson.