Golf Roundup : Watson Shoots a 69 and Closes In on First Victory in Three Years

It’s been three years, but Tom Watson says he hasn’t forgotten how to win.

Watson shot a one-under-par 69 Saturday to maintain his four-stroke lead heading into today’s final round of the Nabisco Championships of Golf at San Antonio.

“I know what to do,” Watson said. “I just have to do the right things. When I was winning four or five or six golf tournaments a year, it was a sweet feeling. But it won’t be as sweet as hopefully (today) will be.

“I know I will be nervous. Anybody who says he isn’t nervous in this position is lying. I would like to have distanced myself from the field by a few more strokes. But I would take a four-shot lead into the final round any time.”

Watson, without a victory since the 1984 Western Open, has a 54-hole total of 200.

He will be playing for the winner’s check of $360,000.

“It will probably take a subpar round for me to win it. All the guys keep saying they can shoot a 62 or a 64 here, and I guess that’s true. But this course isn’t that easy.”

While Watson stayed ahead of the select 30-man field, leading money-winner Curtis Strange stayed at the bottom. Strange shot a 73 for a 220 total, allowing Paul Azinger, second to Strange on the money list, to vault into position to become the 1987 PGA Tour money champion.

Mark Calcavecchia and Mark O’Meara were tied for second going into the final round at 204. O’Meara shot a 66, and Calcavecchia had a 69.

Joey Sindelar shot a five-under-par 67, and Keith Clearwater shot a 68 to move into a tie with Tom Sieckman at 207 heading into the final round of the $500,000 Centel tournament at Tallahassee, Fla.