Nothing Is Shut Yet in Open

If Payne Stewart needs any help chasing away overconfidence while carrying a four-stroke lead into the final round of the U.S. Open, he should consider this:

The three other times the Open was played at The Olympic Club, the third-round leaders were Ben Hogan, Arnold Palmer and Tom Watson--three men with a combined 24 major professional championships.

Stewart should also consider this: All three finished second and none ever won another major title.

“It’s not over by any means,” Stewart said after shooting a solid 70 on Saturday to finish 54 holes at three-under-par 207, four strokes better than Tom Lehman and Bob Tway.

“If I should step on it a little bit I can let a lot of people back in the golf tournament.”

But Stewart, who won the 1991 U.S. Open in a playoff with Scott Simpson after leading every round, and also won the 1989 PGA Championship, certainly has the pedigree to hold on.

“I’ve been here before,” Stewart said. “I’ve done this. You’ve been a champion. There’s no reason why you can’t be a champion again.”

Stewart played safely when he needed to and scrambled when he had to. He was the only player under par after three rounds on the firm, fast and frightening Lake Course.

The four-stroke lead was the largest after 54 holes in the U.S. Open since Tony Jacklin did it on his way to winning in 1970.

Lehman, who pushed into contention with a 68--tying Jim Furyk for the best round of the day--will play in the final group today for the fourth consecutive year at the U.S. Open, hoping this time he can get the job done after finishing third, second and third.

“I don’t think it owes me one,” Lehman said. “I think I owe myself one though.”

This time Lehman avoids the pressure of being the leader.

“If I’m not leading, then the pressure is on the other guy,” Lehman said. “It’s something different anyway, maybe something better for me.”

Nick Price and Lee Janzen were five strokes behind at 212, and Steve Stricker, who gained ground with a 69, was at 213, along with Jeff Maggert.

On Saturday at The Olympic Club, Stewart and Lehman displayed their major championship mettle, and nearly everyone else in contention was pulling back with the relentlessness of the tide rushing out.

Janzen had a chance to be a lot closer to Stewart but made a double bogey on No. 17 for the second consecutive day as he shot a 73.

“Even if Payne struggles tomorrow we will have to shoot a good score to catch him,” Janzen said. “So he does have that in his favor.”

Stewart started his round with a 25-foot eagle putt and had a short birdie on No. 8 that balanced a bogey on the third hole and another bogey when he missed a seven-foot par putt on No. 9.

But four times--on Nos. 4, 5, 6 and 14--he made a good two-putt from more than 30 feet while negotiating the Lake Course’s steep sloping greens.

And he showed soft hands around the greens with consecutive good chips on Nos. 12 and 13 to save par and another one on the 17th hole to escape a bogey.

It was a solid display of exactly the kind of gritty, grind-it-out golf needed to win a U.S. Open.

“I’m not a thoroughbred,” Stewart said when asked about being the last wire-to-wire winner in the Open. “I’m a plodder.”

Lehman walked away from a roller-coaster round once again with a chance to win. He opened the round with three consecutive birdies, followed that with three consecutive bogeys then played two under the rest of the way, finishing with a 6-foot birdie putt on the final hole.

“I played those first six in even par, which was a good score no matter how you’ve done it,” Lehman said.

“One thing to keep on telling myself tomorrow is to be patient. If I can make par after par after par. . . ,” he said, his voice trailing off.

Matt Kuchar, a 19-year-old amateur, hung tough for quite a while but slipped from the scene with four consecutive bogeys beginning at No. 14. He finished with a 76 to be at 215.

Tiger Woods shot a 71 and was at seven-over par 217. Casey Martin had a 74 and was at 219, and Masters champion Mark O’Meara shot a 78 and was at 224.

Defending champion Ernie Els shot a 75 and was at 220.

Because of fairways as narrow as a hotel hallway, rough so deep that players are happy merely to advance the ball and a lot of dogleg holes on which position is more important than distance, the driver has been virtually useless here this week.

After shying away from it for two days, Woods and John Daly put the big stick to use on Saturday.

Woods showed what he could do on No. 1, hitting a drive 373 yards and getting to the par-five green in two with a wedge from 160 yards.

Daly drove the 288-yard uphill seventh hole while the group in front of him was still putting. Els, part of that group, turned around and applauded Daly. Still, Daly shot a 75 and was at 219.

The Olympic Club is known as The Graveyard of Champions because Hogan, Palmer and Watson lost leads here. This is another U.S. Open that might very well produce not only a winner, but also a victim.

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

U.S. OPEN

At Olympic Club Lake Course, San Francisco

Par 70, 54-Hole Scores

THE LEADERS

Payne Stewart: 66-71-70--207 -3

Tom Lehman: 68-75-68--211 +1

Bob Tway: 68-70-73--211 +1

Nick Price: 73-68-71--212 +2

Lee Janzen: 73-66-73--212 +2

Steve Stricker: 73-71-69--213 +3

Jeff Maggert: 69-69-75--213 +3