Rain Is No Pain for Lehman (64)

With the deteriorating weather giving the other Buick Open leaders fits Saturday, Tom Lehman seemed unaffected by Mother Nature and is on the verge of both making the U.S. Ryder Cup team and ending a three-year PGA Tour winless streak.

Lehman shot a third-round 64 to take a four-shot lead over Ernie Els with one round to go at Grand Blanc, Mich.

Slopping along in drenched khakis and doffing his dripping cap on the putting green to keep the water from dripping onto his ball, Lehman lapped the field. He made nine birdies and a bogey.

Lehman is alone at 16 under par, with Els at 12 under and nine players, most of whom got in most of their holes before the worst weather set in, were bunched at 11 under.

“The greens are great. You get it on line and it’s going to go in the hole,” Lehman said. “The rain really didn’t seem to affect me.”

A victory would be Lehman’s first in the U.S. since the Tour Championship in 1996. It also would vault him into the top 10 in the competition for a spot on the Ryder Cup team, meaning an automatic berth on the team. He currently ranks 14th. The matches against Europe are set for next month and next week’s PGA Championship is the last tournament that will count in Ryder Cup standings.

*

Sherri Steinhauer birdied the final two holes for a three-under 69 on to improve to 11 under and take a two-stroke lead heading into the final round of the areaWEB.COM Challenge at Sutton, Mass.

Steinhauer is two strokes ahead of Lorie Kane, and three ahead of Beth Daniel and Mardi Lunn. The winner gets $120,000 of the $800,000 purse.

*

Bruce Fleisher had three birdies in a three-under 69 that extended his lead to three shots after two rounds of the $1.2-million Long Island Classic at Jericho, N.Y.

Fleisher, a four-time winner in his rookie season on the Senior PGA Tour, has an 11-under 133 total after two rounds, three better than Mark Hayes’ 136. David Lundstrom, Buzz Thomas, Tom Shaw and Tom Wargo are tied for third at 138.

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

In Front

Leaders through Saturday (Complete scores, Page 12):

BUICK OPEN--Par 72

Tom Lehman: 67-69-64--200 -16

Ernie Els: 68-65-71--204 -12

Nine tied at -11

areaWEB.Com CHALLENGE--PAR 72

Sherri Steinhauer: 68-68-69--205 -11

Lorie Kane: 69-67-71--207 -9

Beth Daniel: 70-69-69--208 -8

Mardi Lunn: 66-71-71--208 -8

LIGHTPATH LONG ISLAND CLASSIC--Par 72

Bruce Fleisher 64-69--133 -11

Mark Hayes 65-71--136 -8

4 tied at -6