Steady Turnesa leads Shriners by one stroke

Marc Turnesa finds himself in familiar territory. Only this time he's hoping for a different outcome.

The PGA Tour rookie was leading the Viking Classic for three rounds last month, only to lose in a playoff after squandering a two-shot advantage. Turnesa again is leading a golf tournament after three rounds, and the question is, did he learn his lesson in Mississippi so he can win the Justin Timberlake Shriners Hospitals for Children Open today?

"I think I learned a lot," he said after his third-round 3-under-par 69 was good enough to keep him in the lead at TPC Summerlin at 21-under 195. "I was nervous. I was probably putting too much (thought) into each shot instead of just hitting each shot and then just adding them up at the end.

"I think I'll be more patient, try to hit each shot as good as I can and play as well as I can. If it works out, great. If it doesn't ... I'm not going to think about that."

Turnesa leads Chris DiMarco, Mike Allen and Ken Duke by one shot. Three others, including second-round co-leader Matt Kuchar, are two back. In all, 12 players are within four shots of the lead.

"I'd rather be the hunted than the hunter," Turnesa said. "I'm very comfortable with that."

He also admitted he was lucky to be in front given his 3-under performance. While the course played tougher Saturday with trickier pin placements and longer rough, those who made a big charge like DiMarco were coming from far back.

"I'm a bit fortunate," Turnesa said. "There were some low scores, but none of them were really from the leaders."

Allen, a former UNR golfer, was one of those who came from the back. He was six shots behind Turnesa when he teed off Saturday. But after a blazing front nine that saw him record birdies on the first two holes, an eagle at No. 3 and another birdie at No. 4 as part of a 7-under 29, Allen found himself momentarily in the lead.

"It's hard to make birdie putts all the time," Allen said. "But I guess I made enough of them.

"I'm just trying to give myself good looks for birdies."

He hit a bit of a lull for a good portion of the back nine. But he rallied with birdies on two of his final three holes to go to 20 under. His fast start had taken some of the sting out of his struggles on the back nine.

"No question," Allen said. "It takes some of the pressure off you, and I was glad I was able to finish up strong."

It was a frustrating afternoon for Kuchar, the co-leader heading into the third round. He started birdie-double bogey, then made eagle at No. 9 to make the turn at 1 under.

His back nine was a wild ride, featuring a birdie at No. 13 and a bogey at No. 14, followed by birdies at 15 and 16 to grab a share of the lead at 21 under with Turnesa.

But Kuchar imploded on his final hole, taking a double-bogey 6 after hitting his tee shot into a hazard on the left side, and was forced to hit again from the tee after taking a stroke penalty. The gaffe ultimately put him two shots back at 19-under 197.

He's still within reach. But if Turnesa can avoid stumbling and indeed learn his lesson from a month ago at the Viking Classic, it might not matter what Kuchar, or anyone else, for that matter, does today.

"Anything can happen," Turnesa said. "There's going to be 10, 15 guys that can probably win this tournament. It's nice to have a one-shot lead, but it's not a big deal."

Contact reporter Steve Carp at scarp@ reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2913.