It's Time to Turn Up The Heat at the 2002 Advil Western Open
by: Dan Rusnak - 7/6/2002 7:33:16 PM

Behind one eagle and six birdies, 2000 Western Open winner Australian Robert Allenby moved into the lead Saturday at the Advil Western Open after shooting a seven-under par 65. Allenby sits at 15-under for the tournament and has a two-shot lead on Neal Lancaster, who shot a five-under par 67 on Saturday. The two will be paired up for Sunday's final round.

Allenby, who started the day tied for fifth, had one bogey en-route to his 65, which tied for the 2002 tournament low-round.

The odds are in his favor - he has won both events that he has led through 54 holes.

"Obviously, there's a long way to go," said Allenby, who missed the cut in 2001 after winning the tournament in 2000. "In 18 holes anything can happen and a two-shot lead is not a lot when you're playing against such a good field."

Allenby, a four-time PGA TOUR winner, will be trying to join Nick Price and Tiger Woods as the only players to have captured two or more Western Opens at Cog Hill.

"(Dubsdread) is one of those golf courses that I've got a lot of memories from a couple of years ago and I'm just trying to draw as I go around the course," added Allenby, who carded his career low at Cog Hill for the second consecutive day, topping yesterday's 67.

Allenby's top rounds in his 2000 Advil Western Open victory were 68's in rounds three and four.

"I think (Dubsdread) is the type of golf course that demands different shots off the tee so, you know, it's not always the driver, it's not always a 3-wood - it could be a 2-iron," said Allenby, whose best 2002 finish to date is a tie for eight at the Verizon Byron Nelson Classic. "And you have to shape the ball very well to get to most of these flags, so you have to hit it left-to-right and right-to-left, you've got to hit it high and low."

Allenby's play on the par five's have given him the edge. He eagled the 519 yard, par five 15th hole for the second consecutive day and was five-under par Saturday on the par 5's. Through three rounds, Allenby is 5-under par on #15 and 10-under par on the par 5's.

Lancaster had an up-and-down third round. After starting the day tied for ninth, Lancaster birdied the first hole before double bogeying the third.

"I think I brought the rain on #3 today," said Lancaster of the unexpected rain showers that occurred during the third round. "As soon as I hooked it off the tee, it started raining."

"I kind of wasn't prepared for it and then three-putted the hole to make double," added Lancaster who is 133rd on the money list at $212,591.

Lancaster finished his third round with one double bogey, one bogey and eight birdies. His five-under par 67 was his career best round at Dubsdread. In 32 rounds at Dubsdread, Lancaster has three 68's - two the first two rounds this week and a 68 in the second round in 2000.

Lancaster turned professional in 1985 and has one PGA TOUR victory - the 1994 GTE Byron Nelson Golf Classic.

John Cook, who entered the third round with the lead at 11-under, finished even par on Saturday to drop into a tie for fifth with Davis Love III.

Jerry Kelly and Bob Estes are tied for third at 12-under while five other players are within five strokes of the lead at 10-under.

Did you know.

* With the back tees being used at Cog Hill's Dubsdread, the 482 yard par four 13th is the hardest hole during the third-round at 4.279 average score. There were seven birdies, 52 pars, 23 bogeys and four double-bogeys during Saturday's round. #13 is tied with the 460 yard par four eighteenth for second-hardest hole for the tournament at 4.177.

The 213 yard par three Sixth hole is the overall leader at 3.294.

* Former Northwestern All-American Jess Daley continued his climb up the Advil Western Open leaderboard, carding his second consecutive round of 67 after opening with a two-over par 74. Daley enters the final round tied for 18th, seven strokes behind Allenby. The best finish for the PGA TOUR rookie in 2002 was tied for 25th at the BellSouth Classic.

* Bob Tway made the biggest jump of the day with a seven-under par 65, moving 42 spots from tied for 54th to tied for twelfth. Tway and Allenby shared best round of the day honors.

* Jerry Kelly and Davis Love III, who both logged top-10 performances at the 2001 Advil Western Open, enter the final round tied for third and tied for fifth, respectively.