Howell makes his move

Howell: Great start

It's meant to be a nice weather day. There's no way the greens can dry out by tomorrow, so there will be a lot of birdies.

Charles Howell
Quotes of the week

Leaderboard:
-8 C Howell III
-8 T Ridings
-7 J Overton
-7 B Davis (Eng)
-7 K Thompson
-7 J Day (Aus)

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Tag Ridings bogeyed the final hole to drop into a share of the lead entering the final round of the Turning Stone Championship in New York.

Ridings had stormed into a two shot lead on the back nine with birdies at the eighth, 11th and 15th but missed a six foot par putt on the last to leave sour taste.

He trailed Jeff Overton by a shot at the halfway stage but his playing partner could never get his round going after dropping a shot at the second - his solitary birdie came at the 16th as he returned a 73, still only one out of the lead.

Charles Howell was the man to make a move with a round of 68, birdies at the opening two holes setting him up for the day.

Another birdie at the closing hole took him to eight under par and it earned him a share of the lead with Ridings later fluffing his lines on the final green.

"The weather sure got a lot better at the end," said Howell.

"Starting off the day, it was a bit windy and rainy again. By the end of the day I think you saw how soft it made the greens.

Looking ahead to Sunday's final round, he added: "It's meant to be a nice weather day. There's no way the greens can dry out by tomorrow, so there will be a lot of birdies.

"Whoever ends up winning the golf tournament is going to need to make a lot of birdies and take advantage of that."

Australian Mark Hensby, who began the day three shots behind, made three birdies on the front side and another at the par-five 12th hole to take sole possession of the lead at one stage at -9.

But he had a shocking back nine, dropping four shots in the last six holes to fall three shots off the pace in a packing field.

England's Brian Davis continued in good form and his three-under-par 69 puts him right in there alongside Overton, Kyle Thompson and Aussie Jason Day on seven under par.