GOLF ROUNDUP : Clearwater Leads but Isn’t Happy

Keith Clearwater was a disappointed leader after the third round of the International.

Clearwater held a one-point lead over U.S. Open champion Ernie Els after Saturday’s round at Castle Rock, Colo., but all he could think about was how many points he let get away.

“I’m really bummed out,” Clearwater said. “I let myself down quite a bit coming in. I had short putts on 15, 17 and 18, and I didn’t make any of them. I left seven points out there in the last four holes, and you can’t do that under this format.”

The format at the International uses the modified Stableford scoring system, which awards points for birdies, eagles and double eagles and subtracts them for bogeys or worse.

Points are cumulative over all four rounds. The 144-player field, which was reduced to 72 for the third round, was cut again to 24 for the final round.

Clearwater’s 11-point round gave him a total of 30 points. Els had the day’s best round--a 17 that included a tournament record-tying 10 birdies--for 29 points.

Tom Kite and second-round leader Steve Lowery were tied for third at 26, Mike Reid and Dave Stockton Jr. stood at 25, Rick Fehr had 24 and Bruce Lietzke 23. Lee Janzen, Jay Haas and Tom Lehman were at 22. Eleven golfers were within eight points of the lead.

Masters champion Jose Maria Olazabal was one of five players surviving a six-way playoff for the final spots.

Among those missing the cut were Chip Beck, Tom Watson, Fred Couples, Davis Love III and Ian Baker-Finch.

Clearwater, who began the day with 19 points, bogeyed the third hole to drop a point but then ran off four birdies to make the turn with 26 points. He then birdied the par-five 14th and 17th holes.

Els had what amounted to an eight-under-par 64, having only one flaw in his 10-birdie round--a double bogey at the 12th hole when he drove into the hazard to the left of the fairway.

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Dave Stockton shot a six-under par 66 and holds a one-stroke lead over Jim Albus going into the final round of the Burnet Senior Classic at Coon Rapids, Minn.

“It was testy,” said Albus, who also had a 66, of the windy playing conditions. “I play in Florida and you have to be able to control the wind there. I think I’m a good wind player. But Dave Stockton is not exactly the guy you want to be going up against if it’s windy.”

Stockton is at 134. George Archer shot a 69 and is in third place at 136. First-round leader Dick Rhyan double bogeyed the first hole and quickly fell off the board. He finished with a 77.

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Jane Geddes broke out of the pack with three birdies in a five-hole stretch on the back nine to take a three-stroke lead after the third round of the LPGA Chicago Challenge at Naperville, Ill.

Geddes, who began the round in a six-way tie for the lead, rebounded from a bogey on No. 9 with birdies on Nos. 11, 12 and 15. She finished at four-under-par 68 for an 11-under total of 205 on the 6,256-yard White Eagle Golf Club course.

Margaret Platt, who shot a 69, joined Janice Gibson and Dale Eggeling at 208. Gibson and Eggeling, who began the round tied with Geddes, Kathryn Marshall, Michelle Estill and Katie Peterson-Parker, each shot 71.