Lehman Is Back on Top in Vegas

Tom Lehman, using the long putter he put back in his bag only last month, shot a 66 Saturday to take a one-stroke lead over Dicky Pride and Andre Stolz going into the final round of the Michelin Championship at Las Vegas.

Lehman took advantage of light morning winds to hit 17 greens at Bear’s Best, but it was his putting that helped him make eight birdies for his first 54-hole lead in five years.

“The putting has been the thing that has been just driving me crazy the last three years,” Lehman said. “I’ve been hitting it basically well and, at times, very well with nothing to show for it.”

Lehman, 45, had plenty to show after his third round in the 60s put him at 17-under 198 and in the final pairing on a Sunday for the first time since the Buick Open in 1999.

Winning in Las Vegas isn’t exactly like winning a major, but Lehman, the 1996 British Open champion, said a victory here could help return him to the days when he competed in tournaments reserved for the elite of the PGA Tour.

“It would be gratifying. It would renew my belief in myself,” Lehman said. “I think I’m that kind of player, but after the last few years it’s kind of slipped away from me.”

Pride, who shot 66 at TPC Summerlin, won in his first year on the tour in 1994 but has struggled since. He’s in his eighth week in a row on the road, and has only $78,329 in earnings this year to show for his efforts.

Stolz is in a similar position, with $88,373 in earnings this year. At one point, he missed eight consecutive cuts, but Saturday he shot a 65 to follow an opening pair of 67s.

Phil Mickelson withdrew before Saturday’s third round, citing illness.

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Liselotte Neumann moved closer to her first LPGA Tour victory in six years, firing a 69 for a one-shot lead at the LPGA Asahi Ryokuken International Championship at North Augusta, S.C.

Neumann, the 1988 U.S. Women’s Open champion, won the most recent of her 12 LPGA titles in 1998, a time when she was fifth on the money list and a regular near the top of leaderboards.

Her game has steadily fallen since then, and she entered the LPGA’s final full-field event of the year in 83rd place on the money list.

Even her caddie’s vest at Mount Vintage Plantation wrongly spelled her name as “Newmann.”

But the 38-year-old Swede, who had been tied for the second-round lead with Donna Andrews and Becky Morgan, took another big step toward regaining her elite status.

At 11-under 205, Neumann was a stroke ahead of Morgan (70) and three in front of Sophie Gustafson (66), Grace Park (68), Laura Davies (70) and Cristie Kerr (70).

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Wayne Levi shot a five-under 67 to take a two-shot lead over D.A. Weibring after two rounds of the Administaff Small Business Classic at Spring, Texas.

Levi, coming off a victory at the Constellation Energy Classic and bidding for consecutive wins for the first time in his career, moved to 13-under 131 at Augusta Pines Golf Club. Weibring shot a 65 to get to 133.

Hale Irwin (68) is another two shots back at 135.

Walter Hall, who shared a two-shot lead with Levi after an opening 64, had a second-round 72 and dropped five strokes off the pace. He’s tied with Peter Jacobsen (67), Jim Thorpe (69), John Harris (69) and Jim Dent (70) at 136.

Craig Stadler, who has won his last three Champions Tour starts, opened the round five shots behind the leaders and dropped nine strokes off the pace after a 71. He is trying to match Chi Chi Rodriguez’s 1987 tour record of four consecutive victories.

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Luke Donald shot a four-under 68 for a two-stroke lead after three rounds of the Dunhill Links Championship in Scotland.

The Englishman was at 17-under 199 at Carnoustie. Two of his countrymen and Ryder Cup teammates, Ian Poulter (65) and David Howell (71), were at 201. Poulter’s round came at Carnoustie, the most difficult of the three-course event. Howell, the second-round leader, also played Carnoustie.