Calcavecchia, O’Meara Get in the Hunt; Azinger Leads

Mark Calcavecchia and Mark O’Meara are making early bird(ie) runs in the $750,000 MONY Tournament of Champions at La Costa.

Their charges Saturday tightened the field going into today’s final round.

Paul Azinger is the 54-hole leader, replacing Ian Baker-Finch, who either shared or had the lead outright after 36 holes.

Azinger shot a 69 Saturday for a three-day score of 203, 13 under par. Baker-Finch faltered with a 72 but is only two shots behind Azinger.

Calcavecchia, the British Open champion, and O’Meara made the most dramatic moves.

Calcavecchia shot a four-under-par 68 for a 54-hole score of 206. O’Meara, who couldn’t practice Monday because of back problems, was more impressive with a 65, leaving him four strokes behind Azinger.

Azinger, who has said he doesn’t particularly care for the pressure of being a front-runner, knows what he has to do to win.

“I’ll have to play a lot better tomorrow to win,” he said. “The course is set up for someone to make a charge.”

Azinger explained that fairways are soft and some errant drives aren’t going into the rough and that greens are holding shots.

O’Meara tried to play here Tuesday, but his back was still bothering him. So he went to a chiropractor recommended to him by Chi Chi Rodriguez.

“The chiropractor worked on me last night and it felt a little better, and then he worked on me this morning it loosened up a little bit,” O’Meara said. “He said, ‘I can’t believe how tight you are. Your left leg is two inches shorter than your right leg.’ I’ve been fortunate in the nine years that I’ve been on the tour that I haven’t had much physical problems.”

O’Meara lives in Escondido and said that in the 20-minute drive to La Costa his back would stiffen.

But he shot a 65, the best round of the tournament, and only one shot away from the tournament course record held by five players.

His round included eight birdies and only one bogey. He missed only one green.

That came at the par-four, 423-yard 16th hole. His five-iron shot landed in the lip of a bunker, and he couldn’t come close to the pin when he blasted out.

He barely missed a putt on No. 18 that would have given him a 64.

O’Meara, who attended Mission Viejo High and Cal State Long Beach, said he will have to shoot a similar round today to have a chance to win.

Calcavecchia said he’s a good early year player because he gets so pumped up.

That was evident last year when he had two of his three tournament victories--in the Phoenix Open and Los Angeles Open--by February.

“Everything I do I like to do in a hurry,” Calcavecchia said. “I like to get off to a quick start and get up on everyone in a hurry.”

Calcavecchia had five birdies, climaxed by a 25-foot putt on the par four 15th hole.

“I only messed up on the second hole (a bogey),” he said. “I drove into the rough, had a bad layup and a putt that was too strong.”

Calcavecchia said that his 68 was the best he has at La Costa since 1987, when he had a 65 on the first day of the tournament.

Calcavecchia won a non-tour event--the Spalding Invitational in Phoenix--last week, so his game is sharp.

Azinger said that he didn’t play as well as he did Friday when he had a 68, but was gratified that he finished on positive note on the par-five, 569-yard 17th hole. He hit a pitching wedge to within one foot of the cup to get his birdie.

Azinger was paired with Baker-Finch Saturday, as he was Friday. Baker-Finch said that he didn’t hit a fairway from the ninth hole on and that his round was a grind.

“It was just one of those days,” Baker-Finch said of his even-par 72. “I didn’t get the ball square on the club. I would pull the ball on one hole and push it to the right on the next. It was like Army golf, left-right.

“I need to play a lot better than I played today. Paul is playing very well, and I think he has another sub-par round in him.”

Azinger complimented his playing partner, saying, “He didn’t hit a fairway on the back nine, and I think he hit only two greens and he was under trees. That shows what a good player he is. He shot even-par today and I think a lot of guys in the same position would have shot a 77.”

Azinger was constantly reminded of his birthday Saturday. The scoreboards around the course frequently flashed, “Happy 30th Birthday Paul Azinger. You’re Over the Hill.”

“I just want to know how old the guy was that put that up there,” Azinger said, smiling.

Azinger recalled that he shot a 79 last year on his birthday in the Tournament of Champions and tied for 29th.

Golf Notes

Scott Hoch had a one-under-par 71 and is at 208 . . . Greg Norman and Wayne Grady are grouped at 209, and Payne Stewart and Mark McCumber are at 211 . . . Steve Jones, the defending champion, is apparently out of contention at 214 as are Curtis Strange (214) and Tom Kite (215).

THE LEADERS

At La Costa Country Club--Par 72

Paul Azinger: 66-68-69--203

Ian Baker-Finch: 66-67-72--205

Mark Calcavecchia: 70-68-68--206

Mark O’Meara: 69-73-65--207

Scott Hoch: 69-68-71--208

Greg Norman: 66-72-71--209

Wayne Grady: 69-68-72--209

Payne Stewart: 67-75-69--211

Mark McCumber: 69-73-69--211

Bob Tway: 71-73-68--212

David Frost: 69-68-75--212