Allenby Aces His Way to Top

Robert Allenby made a hole in one during a torrid stretch that took him from the middle of the pack to the top of the leaderboard Saturday, then finished off a five-under-par 66 in blustery conditions to catch Justin Rose in the Deutsche Bank Championship.

“Prettiest shot I’ve ever seen,” Paul Azinger said of the ace by Allenby, a four-iron from 215 yards on the 16th hole.

Allenby had made a 25-foot birdie on the 15th, then followed his ace with a 10-foot birdie on the 17th and a 20-footer for birdie on the par-five 18th. He traded two birdies with two bogeys on the front nine and was at six-under 136 at Norton, Mass.

Rose made birdie on three of the par threes on his way to a 69.

A scrambling Tiger Woods is still in the hunt for his fifth straight PGA Tour victory.

Woods hit into the trees, through the trees and even hit his club against a tree twice on one swing while making an unlikely par. He one-putted six consecutive greens on his back nine -- five of them for par -- and scratched out a one-over 72 that left him two shots behind.

“I didn’t hit it very good,” Woods said. “I’m very happy to shoot 72.”

Aaron Baddeley also scrambled his way around in wind that averaged about 15 mph, with gusts that peaked at 31 mph, and shot 71 to join Woods and defending champion Olin Browne (69) at four-under 138.

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Maria Hjorth closed in on her first LPGA Tour victory in seven years, Cristie Kerr had one bad hole and Annika Sorenstam remained on the fringe of contention in the State Farm Classic at Springfield, Ill.

Hjorth shot a two-under 70 and was 14 under after the third round at the Rail Golf Club, one stroke ahead of Seon-Hwa Lee (69) and Il Mi Chung (70).

Tied for the lead with Hjorth when the day began, Kerr triple-bogeyed the par-three seventh hole and shot an even 72 to fall into a tie for fourth at 12 under with veteran Nancy Scranton, who had a career-low 63.

Sorenstam, six back when the day began, seemed on the verge of falling out of contention before two late birdies put her at nine under after a 69.

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Tom Kite shot a seven-under 65 to take a one-stroke lead over Jay Haas and first-round leader D.A. Weibring after two rounds of the First Tee Open at Pebble Beach.

Kite, who has two Champions Tour wins this season and five straight top-10 finishes, had eight birdies and one bogey during an often overcast day at Del Monte Golf Course. He has a two-day total of 10-under 134, a tournament record.

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Defending champion David Howell shot a six-under 66 despite a bogey on the last hole and led the BMW International Open by two strokes after three rounds at Munich, Germany.

Howell was at 14-under 202 in the European tour event. He was followed at 204 by Padraig Harrington (64) and Colin Montgomerie (66), his Ryder Cup teammates, and second-round leader Martin Erlandsson (69).