Killeen maintains large lead in Wine Country

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LIVERMORE, Calif. -- J.J. Killeen shot a 1-over-par 73 Saturday, but still staked himself to a four-stroke lead after 54 holes at the Livermore Valley Wine Country Championship. The 26-year-old rookie from Texas is 9 under par after three days at The Course at Wente Vineyards and running away from the field in the $600,000 Nationwide Tour event. Killeen bogeyed four of his final six holes during Saturday's windswept third round, giving a bit of hope to those in pursuit.

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J.J. Killeen shot 1 over on Saturday, but it was enough to hold on to a four-shot lead.

Inside the Numbers

Killeen thru 54 Holes

Category Total Rank Eagles 0 N/A Birdies 18 1 Pars 27 T60 Bogeys 9 T30 Double Bogeys 0 N/A Other 0 N/A Driving Accuracy 66.7% T17 Driving Distance 309.7 yds. T12 Greens in Regulation 72.2% T6 Putts per Round 27.7 3 Putts per GIR 1.615 1 Sand Saves 33.3% T25

Tom Gillis matched the day's best round with a 3-under 69 and is joined in second place at 5 under par by Joe Daley (72) and Aron Price (72). Monday qualifier James Love (73) is in fifth place, seven shots back of Killeen, who has played a game of catch-me-if-you-can from the opening bell. Killeen matched the course record with a 7-under 65 on Thursday to grab a one-stroke lead. His second-round 69 Friday put him up by five at the halfway mark.

"I had it going in the middle and hit some quality shots," said Killeen, who got it to 13 under par with a birdie at No. 10. "I played pretty well on a difficult day. That was a tough finish, but I'm not disappointed with any of it. I kept trying to hit good shots but conditions were so tough that par was a good score on any hole."

Winds at 15-20 mph didn't make the Tour's most difficult golf course the past two years any easier. The scoring average for the 61 players who made the cut was 74.770 and only seven players managed to break par.

"The greens are incredibly fast and you have to have total control of your ball," said Gillis, who has no status on any Tour this year and made the field via a sponsor's exemption. "You can't trick it around on a day like today. In order to catch somebody that's out there that far, you've got to have a day like today, you've got to play solid."

Daley was solid, finishing with eight straight pars. Playing partners Price and Killeen both bogeyed the final hole to move closer to the pack.

"You just have to play the course," said Killeen, who broke the 54-hole tournament record by two shots despite the late miscues. "I wasn't really aggressive, but you can't be too conservative because you've got to hit a lot of long irons."

Killeen, a San Diego, Calif., native will have a chance in Sunday's final round to complete the Tour's first wire-to-wire win since Martin Laird won the 2007 Athens Regional Foundation Classic, which will be the next stop on the 2008 schedule in two weeks.

"I'm not going to change anything I'm doing," said the leader. "I'm definitely not nervous when I'm out there playing. The nervous part is in between when your mind starts thinking about everything."

Everything, in this case, would include a first-place check for $108,000 and a big step toward THE 25 and a berth on the PGA TOUR in 2009.

Killeen must avoid a complete meltdown in the final round in order to join Jarrod Lyle and Ewan Porter as first-time winners this year.

Gillis, a veteran of the European Tour and the PGA TOUR, is still confident about his comeback chances after getting within striking distance.

"There'll have to be some give-and-take out there tomorrow," he said after hitting 11 of 18 greens. "You've got to pick our spots and try to give yourself as many chances as you can. I've played in conditions like this in Europe and that may help me out, I don't know. Sometimes experience is overrated but I hope it's not this time."

Third-Round News & Notes: Reigning U.S. Amateur champion Colt Knost birdied four of his first six holes en route to a 3-under 69. Knost, who won his 2007 title at The Olympic Club in San Francisco, moved up from a tie for 41st to a tie for sixth. ... Saturday's third-round scoring average was 74.770, marking the third straight day that the par-72 layout has played well above par. The first-day average was 74.333 and the second-round average was 75.049.