With 18 holes left to play, Honda Classic still very much up for grabs

3/8/2009

Y.E. Yang heard the question in English, then listened to his translator say it to him again

Yang shot even-par 70 and finished 7 under on Saturday, good enough for a one-shot lead over Jeff Klauk (67) and Jeff Overton (70, with a triple bogey on No. 11, going twice in the water, followed by two birdies in his last three holes) entering the Honda's final round.

On a topsy-turvy day at the Honda, six different players had at least a share of the lead at some point, but the guy who started the third round in front found a way to finish there, too.

Charlie Wi (65), Brett Quigley (67) and John Rollins (68) all finished two shots off Yang's pace, at 5 under.

Ben Crane briefly got into the lead with an ace on the 162-yard fifth hole, then chipped in on the next hole for birdie to get to 7 under. He then made two double bogeys in the next five holes, finishing three shots back.

And there's Mark Calcavecchia, who will start Sunday tied for seventh and in position to pull off something statistically bizarre.

He won the Honda in 1987, prevailed again 11 years later -- and now, 11 years after that, is in contention again, at 4 under for the week.

The guys ahead of him aren't exactly among golf's top closers.

Rollins has won twice in 238 career PGA Tour starts, and he's the only one of the first six on the leaderboard ever to win an event in golf's big leagues.

Klauk is 0-for-7. Yang, 0-for-46. Wi, 0-for-84. Overton, 0-for-85. Quigley is a winner of more than $9 million but no Tour events, going 0-for-339.

Crane used a 9-iron for his hole-in-one, the first at the Honda in seven years. It hopped a couple of times, just below the hole, then rolled into the cup. And on the next hole, his pitch from off the right side of the green came out a bit hotter than he liked, hit the pin and dropped.

Erik Compton, in his second Tour event since undergoing heart-transplant surgery for the second time, shot 73 and will start Sunday eight shots out of the lead.

Leaderboard – Round 3:

1.   Y.E. Yang                      KOR  68 65 70 203 - 7
2.  Jeff Klauk                       USA  69 68 67 204 - 6
     Jeff Overton                   USA  67 67 70 204 - 6
4.  Charlie Wi                      KOR  67 73 65 205 - 5
     Brett Quinley                  USA  71 67 67 205 - 5
     John Rollins                   USA  69 68 68 205 - 5
7.  Mark Calcavecchia           USA  74 67 65 206 - 4
     Fredrik Jacobson             SWE  72 67 67 206 - 4
     Jason Dufner                  USA  72 66 68 206 - 4
     Ben Crane                      USA  70 65 71 206 - 4
     Robert Allenby                AUS  66 68 72 206 - 4
     Will MacKenzie                USA  67 67 72 206 - 4

13. Alex Čejka                     GER  71 66 70 207 - 3

Source: AP, PGA Tour