GOLF / TOUR CHAMPIONSHIP : Big Money on Line, but That Shouldn’t Bother Leader Frost

David Frost is a quiet player who was born in Capetown, South Africa, and now lives in Dallas.

He is not flamboyant, nor does he have any hobbies.

However, Frost, 33, has a burning ambition.

“I would like to be as good as anybody ever has been,” he said.

He will receive some recognition if he wins the Tour Championship at the Olympic Club, and he’s the leader heading into the final round. Frost shot a two-under-par 69 Saturday for a 54-hole score of 205, eight under par.

He has a two-shot lead over Greg Norman, who shot a 68 on the Lake Course.

Scott Simpson, Jim Gallagher Jr., John Huston and Rick Fehr are three strokes behind Frost.

The $3-million tournament rewards $540,000 to the winner, the richest purse on the tour. Second place is worth $324,000.

Playing for such high stakes won’t unnerve Frost, though. He won the Sun City Million Dollar Challenge in 1989, 1990 and 1992.

Officially, he won $1 million for each victory, but realized only $500,000 after taxes.

Frost will be paired with the Australian-born Norman today. He knows the crowd will be rowdy, but he doesn’t seem concerned.

Norman has his own incentive. He could become the leading money winner with a victory or second-place finish today.

With $1,160,903 in earnings, he trails Nick Price and Paul Azinger, who have earned $1,419,757 and $1,402,956, respectively.

However, Price and Azinger aren’t in contention, trailing Norman by eight strokes.

“I believe anyone within six shots has a chance,” Norman said. “This is a good golf course to chase on because it is so tough.”

Frost birdied the 16th and 17th holes to emerge as the third-round leader. He had five birdies and three bogeys, two of them when he three-putted the 11th and 13th greens.

“No putt is real easy on these greens,” he said. “My arms got away from my body on a couple of putts.”

For a while, it seemed that Fehr would emerge with the third-round lead. He was in front at seven under through 16 holes before he got a double bogey on the 522-yard, par-five 17th hole. “I just made a couple of bad swings,” Fehr said after finishing with a 70.

Fehr qualified as the last player in the 30-man field. Actually, he was 31st on the money-winning list, but Germany’s Bernhard Langer, who was No. 14, didn’t qualify for the tournament because he isn’t a member of the tour.

Fehr tied for 23rd in the Las Vegas Invitational last week. He immediately got on a plane to his home in Seattle, where his wife, Terri, was expecting a child.

His wife delivered the baby on Tuesday, a boy, Mitchell Austin.

Norman was only four under par for the tournament and trailing Frost by three strokes Saturday when he approached the par-five 17th.

He had a 15-foot putt for eagle, but settled for a birdie.

Norman almost eagled the final hole when his pitching wedge carried 15 feet past the pin and spun back to within nine inches.

Norman wouldn’t comment about an incident while he was ready to putt for a birdie from 20 feet on the third hole. Simpson’s tee shot on the second hole had strayed near the third green. And Simpson hit his second shot through trees just when Norman was putting, the players being unaware of each other.

Simpson saved his par, but Norman three-putted for a bogey, flinching when he heard the crowd yelling in approval of Simpson’s trouble shot.