ESPN.com - Golf Online - Langham closing in on first PGA Tour win

Associated Press
Saturday, March 4

MIAMI -- Franklin Langham admits he is a "nobody" on the PGA Tour, a 31-year-old grinder who couldn't be identified by the gallery except for the name on his bag.

That could change Sunday.

With an array of stars poised to make a move in the third round, Langham refused to get rattled and wound up in control of the Doral-Ryder Open with a 4-under 68 that gave him a three-stroke lead over Jim Furyk.


	Stephen Ames struggled down the stretch Saturday to fall four shots off the pace.

"We all know we're good players or we wouldn't be out there," Langham said. "I've gotten myself in this position and I'm happy to be here. I don't feel like it's a fluke."

If it was a fluke, Langham would have crumbled when he clipped a branch and went into the water on his third hole for a double bogey, which cost him the lead. He would have felt the heat when Stephen Ames made a late charge, only to stumble.

"I didn't panic," he said.

Instead, Langham overcame his one mistake with four birdies in a five-hole stretch, giving him a 19-under 197.

"I've never led after 36 holes, now I'm leading after 54, so that's a step forward," Langham said. "I'm a marked man now. They're going to be firing at pins. It ought to be exciting."

Furyk had a 68 and was at 16-under 200, putting him in the final pairing Sunday.

"I get to see him play. I get to see what the lead is," Furyk said. "If the weather is real good, it all depends on what Franklin is doing."

Should Langham hang on Sunday, he would become the fourth player in the past three weeks to win for the first time on the PGA Tour. Kirk Triplett won in Los Angeles, and Jim Carter (Tucson) and Darren Clarke (Match Play) each won last week.

"He's a good player. He's going to break through at some point," said David Duval, who played on the 1991 Walker Cup team with Langham.

Langham began the third round the way he ended it -- with a three-stroke lead. But there were a few anxious moments.

He lost his lead after just three holes, thanks to a birdie blitz by Nick Price and Langham's double bogey. But he kept his poise, sauntering down the fairway as if he has been in this position before, and quickly got back in front with a string of birdies.

His closest challenger for most of the sunny, balmy day was Ames, who a day earlier broke the course record with a 61. Ames birdied the 11th and 12th holes to get to 17-under, just one stroke behind, and matched Langham shot for shot until a bogey on the 15th.

Then disaster struck. He missed the green to the right on the 16th, took two chips to reach the green and missed an 8-footer for bogey.

Ames birdied the 18th for a 69, leaving him four strokes out of the lead at 201.

Shigeki Maruyama had a 70 and was at 202, one stroke ahead of Price.

With four birdies on his first six holes and an eagle on the par-5 eighth, Price was 8-under for his first 12 holes and in the lead. But he missed the green on the par-3 13th and his chip hit an old ball mark and came up well short, leading to a bogey.

He finished with a 66.

"Obviously, I would have liked to have not made the mistakes I did coming in," he said. "That just took the sting out of the day for me."

The wind picked up enough to spray water from the fountain in front of the 18th green to the adjacent ninth hole, but not enough to prevent more good scores. Robert Damron had the best score of the day, a 7-under 65.

"It was a little tougher today," Furyk said. "But it wasn't blowing too hard that you couldn't shoot a good score."

Vijay Singh, one of those just three behind at the start of the day, had a double bogey on the par-3 fourth and managed only three birdies in his round of 73 that left him at 205, in the same group as Duval.

"A comment on today? How about, 'I hate this game,"' joked Duval, who missed two short birdie putts and then three-putted from 12 feet to close out the front nine.

"I've been seven behind before and still won," Duval said.

True, but one of those victories required a 59. The wind will have to come to a complete halt for Doral to yield that kind of score.

Langham, who was born in Augusta, Ga., and worked the scoreboard behind the 16th green at Augusta National the year Jack Nicklaus won his sixth Masters, went straight to the driving range after his round in the fading sunlight over Miami.

The toughest part about Sunday could be the eight hours between the time his two young sons wake up and he hits his first tee shot.

"I'm sure I'll be a little nervous. I expect that," Langham said. "But I guess you've got to get there to experience it. Sometimes, winning just happens to you. All you can control is playing good golf and giving yourself a chance to win."

Divots

Greg Norman got to the first tee and realized he had the wrong driver. So he sent his caddie, Tony Navarro, to his helicopter to fetch the club he needed.

The winning score last year was 13-under 275. Five players were at 13-under after the third round.

Until this week, Price's lowest round at Doral was a 67, shot in 1993. He has had two rounds of 66 this week.

Aaron Baddeley, the 18-year-old amateur who won the Australian Open, is staying with Norman while in Florida to play the Honda Classic.

Heart-transplant recipient Erik Compton, playing with a marker in the first group because of the odd number of players who made the cut, was 4-over after the first four holes and finished with a 78.