Stockton One-Up on Trevino

Dave Stockton held off Lee Trevino on Saturday in the Royal Caribbean Classic, then marveled at Trevino’s play.

Stockton birdied three of his last six holes on the way to a five-under-par 67 and a 36-hole score of 131. Trevino shot a 65 and was at 132.

“There’s no way he can hit the kind of shots he did today without practicing,” Stockton said of Trevino, who hasn’t won in 14 months.

Trevino said he was “doubly surprised at how well I’m playing.”

“I’m hitting some really nice shots,” he said. “I feel good about how I’m playing, but I cannot tell you how I will play tomorrow.”

Stockton and Trevino, playing in the final group, waged a duel on the back nine of the par-71 Crandon Park Golf Course.

They took advantage of near-perfect scoring conditions. Stockton birdied three of his last six holes, and Trevino was just as hot, closing with birdies on four of his last five holes.

“The only mistake I made was not birdieing the [two] par-fives on the back nine,” Stockton said. “It was a solid day. The only fairway I missed was at No. 10, and on that hole I hit it straight. It just rolled through the fairway.”

David Graham and John Bland are both at seven-under 135, four shots behind Stockton.

Graham, who at one time shared the lead with Stockton at nine under, slipped with bogeys on the last two holes and finished with a 68. Bland moved into contention with a 66.

Trevino has won more tournaments (27) and money ($7.45 million) than anyone on the senior tour, but he has been in a slump the last two years, winning only once and failing to make the top 10 on the money list.

He says he doesn’t care about winning as much as he once did. He has chosen to spend more time with his family, saying he doesn’t feel the need to grind away week after week.

Stockton doesn’t believe everything Trevino is saying.

“He says he has no goals, but I find it hard to believe,” Stockton said. “I saw him practicing in Palm Springs and he seemed to be having more fun than he had in quite some time.”

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Ian Woosnam of Wales shot a two-under 70 to take a one-shot lead into the final round of the Heineken Classic at Perth, Australia.

Woosnam is at 11-under 205 after three rounds, one stroke ahead of Denmark’s Thomas Bjorn, who shot a 68 Saturday. Jose Maria Olazabal of Spain, who also shot a 68 in the third round after being warned for slow play, is two shots off the lead.

Olazabal was preparing to hit his second shot on the 15th when fellow Spaniard Jose Maria Zamora, a European Tour official, cautioned him for slow play.

“We had been waiting on the 10th, 11th, 12th and 13th and after waiting four holes in a row, a hole-and-a-half after that, I then got a bad time,” Olazabal said. “Explain that to me. He didn’t give me an explanation. I agree with the rule, but you have to be more logical applying it.”