Wargo Trying to Establish Tradition

Tom Wargo shot his highest score in three days Saturday--a three-under-par 69--but it was still good enough to maintain a two-shot lead over defending champion Gil Morgan in The Tradition.

Wargo, looking for his fourth win on the Senior PGA Tour, was at 12-under 204 heading into today’s final round of the first of four seniors’ majors, at Scottsdale, Ariz.

Morgan, who already has won three events this season, kept the pressure on with a birdie at the 18th hole for a 69.

“It wasn’t as pretty as the first two days, but we managed to get it in,” said Wargo, who has led after all three rounds on the Cochise course. “We were forced to get it up and down a few times and we managed to do that.”

Wargo continued his hot putting, needing only 23 putts to complete a round for the second time this week.

He scrambled to save pars at four holes, including two sand saves, and recorded only his second bogey of the tournament at the 11th hole.

When Morgan rolled in birdie putts at the 13th and 15th, Wargo matched them to keep a three-shot lead.

Morgan finally narrowed it to two shots when he knocked in a 20-foot putt at the par-five 18th.

Jack Nicklaus, a four-time winner of The Tradition and designer of the course at Desert Mountain, slumped to a 74, putting him 12 shots off the pace.

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Lee Westwood, a 24-year-old Briton, shot a five-under 67 to take a one-stroke lead after three rounds of the Freeport-McDermott Classic in New Orleans.

Westwood had seven birdies and two bogeys, putting him at 12-under 204, one shot ahead of Steve Flesch and two ahead of Duffy Waldorf.

“I’d really like to win in this country,” said Westwood, who earned $1.7 million and had 12 top-10 finishes around the world last year. “That would leave only two continents that I haven’t won on--South America and Africa.”

Westwood has improved his score each day, shooting rounds of 69, 68 and 67. Last week he closed with a 68 and a 69 to finish fifth in The Players Championship.

Westwood had four birdies on the front nine Saturday, including a chip-in from 90 feet on No. 7 at the Nicklaus-designed English Turn course.

Flesch, who held a two-stroke lead after the first two rounds, offset two bogeys with three birdies to stay close despite battling a stomach virus and hitting into eight bunkers during the round, including two on the par-4 18th for his second bogey.

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Unheralded Swede Carin Koch, the leader the first two days, slipped to a 73 and dropped back into a tie with Donna Andrews after three rounds of the LPGA Longs Drugs Challenge.

Koch, seeking her first tour victory, had 15 pars, one birdie and two bogeys en route to a seven-under 209 total on the 6,412-yard Twelve Bridges Golf Club in Lincoln, Calif.

Andrews, a five-time winner, shot her third consecutive sub-par round, a 70.