Associated Press
Saturday, November 4

MADISON, Miss. -- Steve Lowery shot a 65 on Saturday leaving him 20-under par after three rounds and extending his lead to three strokes at the Southern Farm Bureau Classic.

Fred Funk moved into contention with a 64, placing him in a tie for second with Kenny Perry and Billy Andrade at 17-under 199.

"My goal was to get in position to try to win the golf tournament and I am if Steve (Lowery) would just calm down a little bit," said Funk, who won here in 1998.

Lowery held one-stroke leads after the first two rounds. While the entire field has scorched the par-72, 7,199-yard course at Annandale Golf Club, Lowery has been consistently excellent.

"I'm trying not to worry about other people," said Lowery, whose 196 is a tournament record through 54 holes. "If I play the way I can play. I can win."

The scoring average for the tournament is 69.8.

Lowery has made two of the field's 28 eagles, 17 birdies and just one bogey in three rounds.

The 40-year-old hasn't won on tour since 1994 at the International in Castle Rock, Colo., but this has been his best season since.

He entered the weekend 36th on the money list and with a victory, he stands a good chance of breaking into the final top 30 and guaranteeing him a spot in next year's U.S. Open.

Funk played the four par 5s in 5 under, including a 20-foot putt for eagle on No. 5.

Perry shot a 65 to reach 199, while Andrade had a 66 for the third round.

Skip Kendall started his day by finishing his second round with a bang. He holed a sand wedge from about 100 yards for an eagle on 18.

He rode that momentum to a front-nine 30 that included four birdies and an eagle. Kendall is in a group of four at 16-under 200.

For many of those out of the running to catch the leaders, there is still plenty to play for on Sunday.

Players are jockeying for position on the money list trying to secure playing privileges for next season and avoid qualifying tournaments. The top 125 players earn PGA Tour cards for 2001.

Joey Sindelar, a 17-year veteran, is 124th in earnings and was at 8-under 208 through three rounds. That puts him in a tie for 44th place.

"I've come down to the fact that I need about 10,000 bucks and if I do that, probably enough guys won't pass me - unless all the cards fell perfectly. So that's the mission," he said.

Another long-time tour player was not so lucky. Dan Forsman came into the tournament 125th, but failed to make the cut after round two was completed Saturday morning.

Forsman had gone 18 seasons without losing his card.

Pete Jordan, a little less than $12,000 behind Forsman at 126 on the money list, may have missed an opportunity to catch the two veterans by shooting a 72 on Saturday that left him 11-under and tied for 26th.

"I lost a lot of ground today," said Jordan, who earned his tour card in q-school last year.