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DiMarco's 64 gives him share of lead in Phoenix

Associated Press
Published February 1, 2004

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. - No one ran away from the pack in the FBR Open, so Chris DiMarco saw room at the top for himself.

DiMarco shouldered his way into a share of the third-round lead Saturday, shooting 7-under 64 to join Jonathan Kaye at 14-under 199.

Kaye shot 66, making all five of his birdies on the back nine. Second-round leader Phil Mickelson, who won the Bob Hope last weekend, was one back after 68.

"I'm surprised that the leaders really didn't do more," DiMarco said. "I was expecting somebody to go 15 or 16 under."

Bernhard Langer (66), Justin Leonard (66), Mike Weir (68) and Ricky Barnes (68) were three shots back with Vijay Singh, Sergio Garcia, Steve Flesch, Fredrik Jacobson and first-round leader Scott Verplank four back.

Almost everyone made a run.

Leonard, who was 1 over after 12 holes, tied a Phoenix record with birdies on the last six holes. Singh, who shot 63, had eight birdies to move within range of his 11th consecutive top-10 finish, the most since Greg Norman's 11 in 1993-94.

"I didn't do anything special," Singh said. "Just scraping slowly, made a lot of good shots."

DiMarco, who was 7 under through two rounds, was on target from the start, beginning his chain of birdies with a 20-foot putt on the second hole. He had a short putt for birdie at No. 3 and holed a 15-footer at No. 6 and 25-footer at No. 9. DiMarco's other birdies were at 12, 13 and 15.

Kaye, playing three groups behind, made a 15-foot birdie at 17 to tie but missed a putt of similar length on the last hole that would have given him the lead.

"I'm happy with my position," Kaye said. "If I continue to do what I'm doing, we'll just see what happens."

Mickelson, up by one after Friday's round, had one birdie among the first 12 holes but was back in his element on 13 and 15, the two par 5s on the back nine.

He birdied both, two-putting from 26 feet at 13 after a 327-yard drive and two-putting from 35 feet at 15 after a 334-yard drive. That got him to 13 under.

CHAMPIONS TOUR: Tom Watson won the Champions Skins Game in Wailea, Hawaii, taking the final five skins and $260,000 with par on the third hole of a playoff. Watson, the leader after the first nine holes with $70,000, finished the two-day event with $400,000 and 10 skins.

Watson hit the green with his approach shot on the third extra hole then two-putted from 35 feet for par. He won when Lee Trevino three-putted from 25 feet for bogey. Arnold Palmer, who failed to win a skin the past two years, was second with $140,000. Jack Nicklaus made $60,000, and Trevino was shut out.

EUROPEAN-AUSTRALASIAN TOUR: Thomas Bjorn shot 2-under 70 to take a one-shot lead over Miguel Angel Jimenez after the third round of the Johnnie Walker Classic in Bangkok, Thailand. Bjorn had just one bogey, on 13, and was at 14-under 202 with one round left. Jimenez shot 67. Defending champion Ernie Els missed an easy putt on the final hole and finished with 69, leaving him four strokes back.

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