Elkington Finds Key Is Bogey-Free Golf : Tournament of Champions: Australian who lives in Houston has another steady round and leads three others by two strokes.

Steve Elkington finished 26th last year while playing in the Tournament of Champions for the first time.

He said he wasn’t used to the smaller fields.

“The top players are here,” he said. “There’s no leeway for any mistakes. If you don’t play well, you’re gone.”

Elkington has made the adjustment. The Australian, who lives in Houston, shot a five-under-par 67 Saturday at La Costa. He’s at 207, nine under par, after 54 holes.

Elkington has had three sub-par rounds, and he said his caddie informed him how steady he was.

“My caddie said I hadn’t made a bogey since the third hole on Thursday,” Elkington said.

Elkington has a two-shot lead over Billy Andrade, Rocco Mediate and Brad Faxon. Fred Couples is three strokes behind the leader.

Andrade shot a 70, Faxon had a 71 and Mediate and Couples each had 68s.

The wind was a factor Saturday on a clear day, making the finishing holes tougher. Despite that, Elkington had five birdies.

He said he suffered a pulled muscle in his back before the tournament, but therapy here has eased the strain.

He won the Players Championship last year at Ponte Vedra, Fla.

“It’s bigger than a regular event. It’s just under a major,” Elkington said.

Andrade said he is somewhat shocked by how well he has played.

“I’m coming back from a three- week layoff, and I’ve always been a slow starter,” he said.

Andrade was the only player to win consecutive tournaments last year: the Kemper Open and Buick Classic.

The third tournament was the U.S. Open, and Andrade said he was mentally drained by that time and didn’t make the cut.

Only 27 and starting his fourth year on the tour, Andrade is playing in the Tournament of Champions for the first time.

“It’s a very prestigious tournament,” he said. “Everybody has been a winner, and there are no dark-horses coming out of the pack.”

Mediate also is playing in the Tournament of Champions for the first time. He qualified by winning the Doral Ryder Open in 1991.

He said he hadn’t played in a while and was a little nervous. Nonetheless, he had a bogey-free round with birdies at the second, sixth, 15th and 17th holes.

“The atmosphere here is great,” Mediate said, “and the course sets up well for me.”

Mediate, who lives in Jacksonville, Fla., said he enjoys playing the courses on the West Coast portion of the tour.

He finished in a tie for fourth last year at Pebble Beach and was sixth in the Los Angeles Open.

Elkington made a reference to Couples “lurking” off the lead.

Couples is coming off his finest year, during which he was third on the money-winning list and was a decisive factor in the U.S. victory over European golfers in the Ryder Cup.

He recently was voted the 1991 PGA Tour Player of the Year by his peers over Corey Pavin, the leading money winner in 1991.

“Corey had a great, great year, and I had the best year I ever had,” Couples said. “The award meant a lot, but it doesn’t make a lot of putts go in during the week. However, it’s a nice feeling.”

Elkington, 29, who has been on the tour since 1987, said he is more well known in the United States than in his native Australia.

“Greg Norman is the big shark and I’m a little fish,” he says.

Elkington, who has a smooth, powerful swing, was rarely in trouble Saturday. He got his first birdie when hit a sand wedge to within one foot of the cup on the 526-yard second hole. He got two more birdies on the front nine and two on the backside.

While Elkington was playing flawlessly, some prominent players were struggling.

Pavin was over par for the third day with a 73 and, at 223, is next to last in the 32-man field.

Steve Pate, a former UCLA star, as is Pavin, had a 222 for 54 holes. Tom Purtzer, who shared the lead with Faxon after 36 holes, slumped to a 77 (215) Saturday.