KAPOLEI, Hawaii — Bill Glasson moved into position for his first Champions Tour victory, shooting a 7-under 65 on Saturday to take a four-stroke lead into the final round of inaugural Hawaii Championship.
Winless in 46 starts on the 50-and-over tour, the 52-year-old Glasson had a 13-under 131 total. He won seven times on the PGA Tour in an injury-plagued career marked by more than 20 surgeries.
Glasson birdied three of the last five holes after dropping a shot on the par-4 13th.
“Finishing the way I did is going to help tomorrow,” he said. “I need to hit some fairways. That’s my thing. My irons have kept me in the ballgame. My driver, she’s not liking me right now. We’re having a little war. So, we’ll see who wins that battle.”
First-round leader Peter Senior and Mark McNulty were tied for second.
Senior followed his opening 65 with a 70. The 53-year-old Australian is winless in 65 starts in three seasons on the senior tour. He has five runner-up finishes, losing three playoffs.
“I scraped around,” Senior said. “The secret to this course is you have to come from the fairway. If you put yourself in the right position, you can make a lot of birdies.
McNulty shot a 68. He has eight tour victories.
“Two good scores, so I’m happy,” McNulty said. “Obviously, I can’t control what anybody else is doing. I’m going to need a good round tomorrow to have a crack at it.”
David Frost, Corey Pavin and Willie Wood were 8 under. Frost and Pavin shot 67, and Wood had a 68.
Mark O’Meara and Dick Mast followed at 7 under. O’Meara had a 67, and Mast shot 68.
Charles Schwab Cup points leader Tom Lehman had a 70 to top the group at 6 under.
Shin pulling away at Women’s British
HOYLAKE, England — Jiyai Shin opened a five-stroke lead in the Women’s British Open, shooting an 8-under 64 on Saturday in the wind-delayed second round.
Coming off a playoff victory Monday in the Kingsmill Championship, the 24-year-old South Korean player had a 9-under 135 total. She won the 2008 event at Sunningdale.
The nine-time LPGA Tour winner hit all 18 greens in regulation and needed only 28 putts. The 64 is the lowest competitive round at Hoylake, breaking the mark of 65 set by four players in the 2006 British Open.
South Korea’s Inbee Park was second after a 68. Australia’s Karrie Webb, the tournament winner in 1995, 1997 and 2002, was another stroke back along with Japan’s Mika Miyazato. They shot 70.
Play was called off Friday because of high wind and the round was restarted Saturday. The final two rounds are set for Sunday.
Lydia Ko, the 15-year-old amateur coming off a victory three weeks ago in the Canadian Women’s Open, was 1 under along with American Vicky Hurst, Sweden’s Carin Koch, Japan’s Ai Miyazato and South Korea’s Jenny Shin.
Ko, the youngest winner in LPGA Tour history, had a 71. The South Korean-born New Zealander won the New South Wales Open in Australia in January and took the U.S. Women’s Amateur last month.
Mulroy up by one at Italian Open
FIANO, Italy — South Africa’s Garth Mulroy shot a 6-under 66 to take a one-stroke lead over Spain’s Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano after the third round of the Italian Open.
Mulroy was at 17 under on the Royal Park I Roveri course outside Turin. Last November, he won the Alfred Dunhill Championship in South Africa for his first European Tour victory.
Fernandez-Castano shot a 67.
