GOLF ROUNDUP : Old Golfers Fade Away; Hallet Leads

It was one of golf’s classic matchups: Hall of Famers Jack Nicklaus and Tom Watson, paired in the last group on the course, keeping an eye on each other.

They should have taken a moment to glance at the rest of the field.

Had they done so, they would have seen nine players blowing past them Saturday in the third round of the USF&G; Classic at New Orleans.

Jim Hallet, not yet a winner in a four-season career on the PGA Tour, surged past the big names into the third-round lead with a 65 that put him at 205, 11 under par.

He is six strokes in front of Nicklaus, seven ahead of Watson going into today’s final round.

“I was hoping we would all play well so I could play with one of those guys Sunday,” Hallet said. “They are the greats.”

Ronnie Black, one of four tied for second at 208, agreed.

“I respect those guys immensely,” he said. “They’re the two guys I looked at and pulled for when I was a kid growing up.”

But go by them he did. So did Joel Edwards and Billy Mayfair and Ian Woosnam and Kenny Knox and Tom Sieckmann.

Nicklaus, 51, the second-round leader, and Watson, 41, his closest pursuer through 36 holes, started the day’s play in a struggle for the tournament lead and a revival of their flagging careers.

They ended it in frustration and a fight for survival.

This calm, cloudy day, when scores in the 60s were common, Nicklaus shot 74 and Watson 73.

“Disappointing,” said Nicklaus, who occasionally gave vent to a display of anger at errant shots. “Not much you can say about it.”

“Neither one of us played particularly well,” agreed Watson, who again fell victim to the putting problems that troubled him so much in recent years. “We were standing still. We let an awful lot of guys get past us.”

While the old pros were having their troubles, Edwards, Billy Mayfair and Woosnam moved into a tie for second with Black.

Black scored nine birdies, a bogey and a double bogey off an unplayable lie in a round of 66.

Edwards set the course record with a bogey-free 64 that he called “the best I’ve ever played.”

Nicklaus and Watson went off to eat together. “I wonder,” Nicklaus said, “if we can bogey dinner, too.”

Danielle Ammaccapane, winless on the LPGA Tour, shot a three-under-par 70 to take a one-stroke lead after the third round of a $550,000 tournament at Phoenix.

Ammaccapane is at 214, five under par. Colleen Walker, Michelle McGann and second-round leader Barb Bunkowsky are tied for second at 215.

McGann shot 68, Walker 70 and Bunkowsky 73. Betsy King is next at 216 after a round of 72.