GOLF ROUNDUP : Trevino ‘Exhausted’ but Leads by Three

Lee Trevino says the new Tournament Players Championship of Michigan course is wearing him out. The evidence is exactly the opposite.

Trevino shot a three-under-par 69 in the third round Saturday and took a three-stroke lead over Dave Hill, Jim Albus and Don Bies in the Senior TPC at Dearborn, Mich. He has a 54-hole total of 206.

“I’m exhausted. I’m tired,” Trevino said. “You can’t relax on this golf course. It’s a hard golf course. If you make a mistake in one spot, you’ll make a big number out here.”

Hill said: “I played with Lee Trevino and he only missed one fairway. If he plays like that in the final round, you’re not going to beat Lee Trevino, unless he breaks a leg or something.”

Jack Nicklaus, who designed the new 6,876-yard layout, recovered from an opening-round 77 with a 70 Friday and a 69 Saturday but still trails Trevino by 10 shots.

Hale Irwin, exercising the patience that has helped him win three U.S. Opens, outlasted a slow-moving field and overcame his own mistakes for a four-under-par 67 that placed him in the lead by a stroke going into today’s final round of the Buick Classic at Harrison, N.Y.

“It’s the same situation I was in last year,” said the 46-year-old Irwin, who is attempting to duplicate his 1990 feat of sweeping the this event and the U.S. Open on consecutive weeks.

Nine players are within three strokes at the Westchester Country Club.

“There’s no way I can look back at that many players and have any assurance of winning,” Irwin said after completing 54 holes at 203, 10 under par.

Brad Bryant, 36, a non-winner in a 14-season career on the pro tour, birdied four holes in a row beginning on the 14th and was second at 204.

Billy Andrade, who scored his first pro victory last week, and Fulton Allem followed at 205. Andrade had a 69 and Allem shot 70. Seve Ballesteros shot a 69 and was at 206.

Amy Alcott shot a three-under-par 68 and took a one-shot lead going into the final round of the Atlantic City Classic at Somers Point, N.J.

If Alcott can hang on for her 30th career victory, she would become only the 12th woman to qualify for the LPGA Hall of Fame.

Players earn entry into the hall by winning 40 tournaments without a major, 35 with one major or 30 with two majors. Alcott, 35, has three majors among her 29 titles. She had a five-under-par 137 total after 36 holes.