Laird retains lead, but Thompson lurking one shot back  BOGART, Ga. -- Martin Laird birdied the final two holes and has a one-stroke lead over Nicholas Thompson holding off early-round charges from Justin Bolli and Jeremy Anderson at the $500,000 Athens Regional Foundation Classic, the seventh of 32 events on the 2007 Nationwide Tour schedule.  Martin Laird regained his lead with birdies on each of the final two holes. (Kevin C. Cox/WireImage)
Laird, playing his second full season on the Nationwide Tour, started the day with a four-stroke lead but saw it dwindle with bogeys on holes 5, 8, 13 and 16. Down one stroke heading to the 17th tee, Laird finished with birdies on the final two holes to regain his momentum heading into the final round. "It was huge to finish with birdies," said Laird. "It makes the round taste a lot better to finish with the lead." The two-time All-American at Colorado State from Glasgow, Scotland, ranks No. 1 for the week in total driving. He also ranks second in both driving distance and driving accuracy; he has has hit 39 of 42 fairways for the tournament and hit every fairway on Saturday. "You can shoot 64 on this golf course, so there are a lot of guys that could still win," Laird said. "Everyday I've gone to bed at night with the lead and I've gone to bed the next night still in the lead. There's no reason I can't do that again tomorrow." Thompson, a PGA TOUR member in 2006 directly after graduating from Georgia Tech, started the day with birdies on the first three holes. Earlier this year, Thompson birdied the final two holes at the HSBC New Zealand PGA Championship to get into a playoff he eventually won against David Morland IV. With a victory, Thomson would be one win away from a "Three-Win Promotion" and immediate status on the PGA TOUR. Any Nationwide Tour member who wins three events in the same calendar year becomes eligible immediate for PGA TOUR membership, which carries over into the following season. The last player to win three times on Tour in the same season was Jason Gore in 2005. "This is what we work for all year. To have a chance to win each week," Thompson said. "Knowing that I've won and that I've come through in the clutch has me prepared to come out and play well tomorrow." Bolli, winner of the 2004 Chattanooga Classic and a 1999 Georgia graduate, shot the low round of the tournament with a 7-under-par 65. Bolli had seven birdies and one bogey on a course he estimates he has played more than 150 times while he lived in Athens. With the strong round, Bolli moved from T34 at the start of Saturday's third round to T3. "I made a lot of 12-15 footers today and that's what separates 65s from higher rounds," Bolli said. Anderson also made a move on Saturday with a 6-under-par 66 in his first tournament since the Chitimacha Louisiana Open Presented by Dynamic Industries. THIRD-ROUND NEWS & NOTES: Steve Friesen made the second hole-in-one of the week on the 171-yard eighth hole. Friesen hit a 7-iron, the same club Greg Chalmers for his hole-in-one on Friday. ... The scoring average dropped a nearly 2.5 strokes from Friday to Saturday from 73.303 to 70.867. This is the first round of the tournament in which the course played under par. ... Greg Chalmers (65) and Andrew Pratt (70) shot bogey-free rounds on Saturday. ... Laird is attempting to become the first wire-to-wire winner on the Nationwide Tour this season. The last player to go wire-to-wire was Kevin Na at the 2006 Mark Christopher Charity Classic. THEY SAID IT: Those who follow Anderson might not recognize him as he took the time off last week to get his first haircut in 10 months. "When I started hearing references to Chippendale's Dancers and Fabio, I knew it was time to get it cut," Anderson said. "I thought about selling it to Britney Spears, but not sure she wanted it." Copyright 2007 PGATOUR.com. All rights reserved. |
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