Golf

Harrington ties Furyk at the top at Barclays

HARRISON, N.Y. - Jim Furyk has some company at the top of the leaderboard at the Barclays Classic.

Irish star Padraig Harrington grabbed a share of the third-round lead Saturday, shooting 3-under 68 to match Furyk at 9-under 204 on the sun-baked Westchester Country Club course.

Furyk, the leader after each of the first two rounds, had 70.

"It's a long way to go tomorrow," Harrington said. "I try not to think too much about it and just go about playing my own game. ...

"I like old old-style, tree-lined golf courses like this. It seems to really fit my eye well. I grew up on this style of greens."

Furyk, the 2003 U.S. Open winner who is winless since returning from a wrist injury a year ago, shot 65 on Thursday to open a three-stroke lead and had 69 on Friday to take a two-stroke advantage into the weekend.

"I thought it played more difficult than the first two rounds," Furyk said. "I just kind of got it around. The back nine was playing very demanding. ...

"The greens definitely firmed up, got baked out. They were almost turning white at the end. Everywhere you stepped you could kind of see your footmarks, not because they were soft but because they were stressed out pretty well."

After Harrington, playing a group ahead of Furyk, holed a 30-foot birdie chip from the fringe on the par-3 16th to take the lead, Furyk regained a share of it with a 9-foot birdie putt on the same hole. Harrington pulled ahead again with a two-putt birdie on the par-5 18th, and Furyk matched him, holing a short putt after playing his third shot out of the left greenside bunker.

Brad Faxon (66) and former Florida Gator Brian Gay (71) were two strokes back at 7 under.

The 43-year-old Faxon, winless since the 2001 Sony Open, has one top-20 finish in 16 events this year, a sixth-place tie in the Honda Classic.

"You think you should eat this place up, but nobody does," Faxon said.

Vijay Singh was 5 under after 69. Tied for the lead at 8 under after 12 holes, the 1993 and 1995 winner had double-bogey 6 on No. 13 and bogey on No. 16.

On the 418-yard 13th Singh, the second ranked player in the world, drove into the thick right rough, hit his second shot into knee-high grass 100 yards short of the green and advanced the ball only 20 yards with his third.

Kenny Perry and Australia's John Senden shot 72 to join Singh at 5 under, and Dean Wilson (66), Pat Perez (68), Brett Quigley (68) and Len Mattiace (73) were 4 under.

Senden, paired with Furyk, eagled the par-5 fifth for a share of the lead at 9 under but bogeyed four of the final 13 holes to drop back.

CHAMPIONS TOUR: With the senior circuit's cart ban lifted because of temperatures in the mid 90s, Tom Purtzer shot 8-under 64 to take the lead after two rounds of the Bank of America Championship in Concord, Mass.

R.W. Eaks shot 65, and Mark McNulty shot 69 to sit one stroke back at the 6,728-yard Nashawtuc Country Club.

First-round leader Leonard Thompson shot 71 and was in a tie for third, two strokes back, with Jerry Pate (69) and John Bland (69).

EUROPEAN PGA: Eduardo Romero, who also led after the second round, shot 1-over-72 to share the lead with Jean-Francois Remesy and Jean Van de Veld after three rounds of the French Open at Versailles. Romero, 50, goes into today's final round attempting to surpass Des Smyth as the tour's oldest winner. Smyth won the 2001 Madeira Island Open at 48 years, 34 days. Romero, Remesy (67) and Van de Veld (70) are at 9 under for the tournament.

NATIONWIDE TOUR: Greg Kraft of Clearwater shot 68 for 197 total to extend his lead to seven shots over five others at the developmental tour's Northeast Pennsylvania Classic at Moosic.

[Last modified June 26, 2005, 00:34:18]