GOLF ROUNDUP : Elkington Commanding With a Five-Shot Lead

Steve Elkington birdied the first three holes Saturday in a four-under-par 68 that increased his lead to five shots over fellow Australian Steve Rintoul after three rounds of the Buick Southern Open at Pine Mountain, Ga.

At the turn, Elkington appeared to be headed to a record-setting lead after 54 holes in a PGA Tour event. He had a nine-shot lead after nine holes, in position to break the mark of eight set by Spain’s Jose Maria Olazabal in the 1990 World Series of Golf. But a rally by Rintoul and Elkington’s first bogey of the tournament on his 52nd hole cut four shots off the lead.

Elkington’s 16-under 200 broke the three-round record on the 7,057-yard Callaway Gardens Mountain View course set by Gary Hallberg in 1992 and tied by Bob Estes last year.

Rintoul, who started the third round with a triple bogey, recovered to post a 70 and was alone in second place at 11 under.

Brad Bryant was alone in third at 207.

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Jim Dent moved into contention at the Vantage Championship for the fourth consecutive year when his second 66 in a row gave him a share of the second-round lead with Larry Gilbert at Clemmons, N.C.

Dent was deadly with his approach shots in a bogey-free round. But the senior tour’s longest hitter has folded here in the past. Last year, he led by a shot heading into the final round before finishing third.

Dent and Gilbert are at 12-under-par 132 after two rounds, but seven golfers are within two shots of the lead, including Isao Aoki, who has won the last two weeks, and Raymond Floyd, who had 10 birdies Saturday in a 64.

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Birdies on three holes in a row on the back nine helped Liselotte Neumann take a one-stroke lead after three rounds of the LPGA Greater Heartland Classic in St. Louis.

Neumann’s five-under-par 67 gave her an eight-under 208 total, one shot better than Deb Richard and Pearl Sinn, from UCLA, who led after the first two rounds.

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U.S. Amateur champion Wendy Ward, Sarah Ingram and Carol Thompson won the World Women’s Amateur Golf Championship for the United States in Saint-Quentin-En-Yvelines, France.

The Americans completed the four rounds seven under par at 569, four shots ahead of South Korea.