PGA CHAMPIONSHIP : A Couple of Ones for the Book : Leader Azinger and Floyd Both Get Holes-in-One

Paul Azinger, who said he has successfully managed to lug the ball-and-chain of pressure that clanks along behind him as the reigning PGA player of the year, will find out once again today how he stands up to the pressure of trying to win a major championship.

There are no such things as teams of destiny, or golfers of destiny, in Azinger’s opinion, and that is a big-picture view which was unshaken even after he shot a hole-in-one Saturday to maintain his one-stroke lead after three rounds of the PGA Championship.

“Hey, I might shoot an 80 tomorrow,” Azinger said.

Golf’s last major title will be decided today in hot and windy weather at Oak Tree Golf Club, where Azinger shot an even-par 71 on a day when the wind blew hot and hot.

There are 12 players within six shots of Azinger’s 54-hole score of 204.

Azinger led the field by four strokes after the fourth hole Saturday when he lofted a 6-iron and rolled the ball into the hole 202 yards away for a hole-in-one.

But with crosswinds blowing and the greens firmer and faster, the PGA Championship tightened up quickly. David Rummells, a non-winner in his third year as a pro, was right behind Azinger after shooting a 68 for a 205.

“I know I can make a lot of birdies,” said Rummells, a self-confessed streaky player who, unlike Oak Tree, plays hot and cold.

Jeff Sluman, another non-winner, was at 207 after a third-round 68.

Nick Faldo had 17 pars and a birdie in his round of 70 and was just four shots behind Azinger at 208. Faldo’s streak of holes without a bogey reached 27, but he said he never got the ball close enough to make more birdies.

Faldo identified his round: “Boredom.”

Payne Stewart, Kenny Knox and Steve Jones were at 209, while Ben Crenshaw’s 69 moved him into contention at 210 with Jay Overton, who shot a 76, David Graham, Mark McNulty and Raymond Floyd, who slipped to a 74 despite a hole-in-one of his own.

For a while, it looked like Happy Hour for holes-in-one. Floyd’s came about 30 minutes after Azinger’s, and both of them drew a loud response from the players in the clubhouse.

“It’s like the Twilight Zone out here today,” Bruce Leitzke said.

As Azinger watched his tee shot bounce and then roll purposefully into the hole at No. 4, he raised his arm and gave high-fives to the gallery.

His last hole-in-one was under somewhat different circumstances--at the Okefenokee Country Club in Blackshear, Ga., when Azinger won $5 from his buddies.

Coming in the third round of a major tournament while he was in the lead, the one Saturday meant just a bit more to Azinger.

“That was the single most exhilirating experience of my life--except maybe for when my little girl was born,” Azinger said. “That was sort of nice, too.”

At least he’s got his priorities straight.

“I couldn’t believe that ball went in the hole,” Azinger said. “I’ve never gotten a roar like that. That was an Arnold Palmer or Jack Nicklaus roar if I ever heard one.”

A major championship? Azinger has never had one of those, although he came close in the 1987 British Open before losing by a shot to Faldo, after bogeying the last two holes.

“At the British Open last year, I felt pressure the entire tournament,” Azinger said. “I held steadfast until the end, until the last two holes. I didn’t really succumb to the pressure.

“I’ve had to deal with a lot of pressure since, of being the player of the year and all the expectations. If I don’t win tomorrow, more than likely it won’t be because I succumbed to pressure.”

After saving par on the first two holes and sinking a 15-footer for another par at the third, Azinger got his hole-in-one at the fourth. He was so overjoyed, he didn’t know how to settle himself.

“How do you come back down to earth?” he asked. “Well, you make double-bogey on the next hole.”

That’s what happened on the 590-yard No. 5 when Azinger hit a 2-iron in the water. He hit a bad drive at No. 9 and wound up with another bogey before righting himself with bunker shots that saved par on Nos. 11 and 12.

Azinger began feeling even better when he birdied the par-3 13th with a seven-footer and two-putted from 7 feet at No. 16 for another birdie. But after he left his second shot at No. 18 short and to the left, Azinger finished with a bogey.

Rummells, who had only one bogey, birdied the 16th to finish with a lot of confidence. What he said he must do today is to start fast and hope his streakiness goes in the right direction.

“Being streaky may work to my advantage,” he said. “I’m the type of player who if he gets a few birdies early, feels he can make them all day.”

Overton, the club pro from Florida who was only one shot from the 36-hole lead, had trouble making pars. After having only three bogeys in the first two rounds, Overton had four on the front nine Saturday, when Oak Tree played much more difficult.

“It played real tough for me,” Overton said. “I was saying to myself, ‘Geez, don’t shoot 100.’ ”

The combination of more wind and harder greens marked something of a comeback for Oak Tree, whose reputation for meanness had been sawed in half after a PGA Championship record 44 players broke par Friday. Only 17 did it Saturday.

Hubert Green was not one of them. He began by recording a triple double--three consecutive double bogeys--on his way to an 83, then withdrew from the tournament.

Faldo said,: “A little bit of Oklahoma wind is making life a little bit more difficult.”

Stewart, who shot a 70, was aware of the feeling. “You can get on the bogey train real quick around here and never get off of it,” he said.

Sluman’s 68, his third consecutive round below par, was solid enough, but it would have been better except for the par-3 17th, where he missed the green and bogeyed.

Even so, Sluman was not bursting with confidence about his chances of winning.

“It’s hard to say. Paul’s playing well and he’s a proven winner,” Sluman said. “I’m just going to go out and play my game. I’m not going to be a Greg Norman or a Jack Nicklaus.”

Of the five players tied at 211, Norman, who had a 72 Saturday, and Nick Price, who matched McNulty for the day’s best round at 67, have the best chance of making an impact today.

Rummells has finished sixth and fourth the past two weeks and believes he is playing as well as anyone right now. Azinger said Rummells may be right. After all, Azinger reasoned, in the past six weeks, six former non-winners have gotten their first victory.

“David does hit hot streaks every now and then,” Azinger said. “It’s kind of a Lanny Wadkins syndrome. I don’t know if you can compare them, but who knows? This may be the time he proves it.

“You’ve got all the first-time winners, and he may be the guy to keep the streak alive.”