GOLF ROUNDUP : Here Comes the Leader, There Goes the Bride

It was difficult to tell whether nerves or an angry wife were more bothersome to Jeff Sluman after a six-under-par 66 Saturday that gave him a two-shot lead heading into the final round of the Greater Greensboro Open at Greensboro, N.C.

Sluman rushed to Pinehurst, a little more than an hour’s drive from Forest Oaks Country Club, for his sister-in-law’s wedding after his stellar round.

“I knew I would be late” for the 6 p.m. ceremony, Sluman said. “I am going to get killed when I get there. . . . Hopefully, I’ll just miss the salad.”

Sluman then rushed out of the interview accompanied by a Guilford County sheriff’s deputy.

“The state trooper said I could go 100,” Sluman joked.

Sluman’s scorecard did the talking for his golf game. It showed three birdies over the last four holes as he completed 54 holes at 15-under 201. Peter Jacobsen, who shot a 69, was at 203.

Kirk Triplett, the second-round leader, carded a 71 and was three shots off the pace.

The 5-foot-7, 140-pound Sluman is searching for his second victory after winning the PGA Championship in 1988. He entered the $1.5-million Greensboro tournament riding a frustrating string of 17 consecutive rounds without a sub-70 score, but has gone 65-66 after opening with a 70.

Jesper Parnevik, runner-up in the 1994 British Open, shot his second 68 in a row and was in a group at 10-under that included one of the first-round leaders, Vijay Singh, and John Adams.

Sluman, playing in front of Jacobsen, gained the lead with a two-shot swing on the par-four 16th hole. Sluman sank a 15-foot putt for birdie while Jacobsen bogeyed after driving into the rough and hitting his approach into a sand trap.

Not many players have fared better on the 6,958-yard Forest Oaks Country Club course in the last decade than Sluman. He led the first two rounds in 1985 and 1988 and has finished second and third.

Sluman has been close to winning in his seven-year dry spell, including in last year’s B.C. Open when he led after three rounds.

The weather was expected to change dramatically for today’s final round. The forecast called for rain and a 25-degree drop in the temperature, to the high 50s.

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Kristi Albers shot a three-under-par 69 Saturday, giving her a two-round total of 136 and a two-shot lead over Vicki Fergon in the rain-plagued LPGA Chick-fil-A Charity Classic in Stockbridge, Ga.

Seventy-two players, including first-round co-leader Laura Davies, didn’t finish their rounds because of a second consecutive day of weather delays.

Davies completed nine holes and was three-under for the day and eight-under for the tournament. She will return to the water-logged Eagle’s Landing Country Club at 8 a.m. to finish her round and will play the final 18 holes later in the day.

Also stuck on the course was Dottie Mochrie, who was seven-under after eight holes. She had birdied four of six holes when the siren sounded ending play.

Kelly Robbins and Susie Redman finished their second rounds at five under. Robbins’ even-par 72 featured three birdies and three bogeys; Redman shot into contention with a four-under 68.