GOLF ROUNDUP : Rain Shortens Houston Open to 54 Holes

Saturday’s third round of the Houston Open was rained out, leaving Blaine McCallister with a two-shot lead heading into the final round.

Seventy-eight golfers whose rounds were interrupted by rain and fog Friday finished their rounds Saturday morning. Thirty of the 78 golfers who made the cut started the third round before storms flooded the par-72 Tournament Players Course at The Woodlands, turning it into a 54-hole event.

McCallister, at 15-under-par 129, led Jim McGovern and John Huston by two strokes. Donnie Hammond and Larry Mize were at 132.

McCallister, bidding for his first victory since 1991, was 10 under after seven holes when second-round play resumed early Saturday. He had four birdies and an eagle before bogeying the final hole for a 65.

“It’s Houston, it’s springtime, you get rain,” he said. “We deal with it. We’re professionals. It’s part of the game.”

Kristi Albers, who has never won in almost eight years on the LPGA tour, shook off an early double bogey and took to a one-stroke lead over JoAnne Carner and Brandie Burton after three rounds of the $1.2-million Sprint Classic at Tallahassee, Fla., the richest event in women’s golf.

Albers shot an even-par 72 and is at nine-under 207. Burton, the LPGA rookie of the year in 1991, shot a four-under 68 to move within one stroke of Albers, who has led after each of the three rounds.

Carner, 54, finished with a one-under 71 and kept alive her bid to become the oldest professional golfer to win a regular tournament.