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Perez still out in front

Stricker climbs into contention with sizzling 61

Last updated: 24th January 2009

Perez: two-shot lead

Third-round leaderboard:
(US unless stated)
P Perez -25
S Stricker -25
V Taylor -22
D Berganio -21
C Stroud -21
R Johnson (Swe) -21
J Dufner -21

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A strong finish to his third round ensured Pat Perez maintained his two-shot lead over the field in the Bob Hope Classic.

Going in search of a maiden PGA Tour title, the 32-year-old finished the day on 25-under-par, two shots clear of Steve Stricker and three clear of Vaughn Taylor.

Starting on the back nine at SilverRock, Perez hit the turn one-under, but he came on strong over the front nine with five birdies to sign for a 67.

In contrast to his birdie-laden rounds of 61 and 63 on the opening two days, Perez managed only one during the course of his first nine holes, but rediscovered his touch by picking up shots at one, two, four, five and seven, with a solitary bogey at six his only blemish.

"I hit it great all day and it was a little better for me on the front," Perez said afterwards. "But I wasn't really comfortable on the back."

But despite his impressive form, Perez is refusing to set his sights on a winning score.

"No, I won't think about that at any point," he continued. "I'm just going to try to go as low as I can and make a lot of putts. That's all I'm going to do.

"I'm not going to worry about a number. If I play great and I come up short, I come up short. But I'm not going to worry about a number or anything the other guys are doing, I can only do what I can control.

"So I'm just taking it one hole at a time and we'll go from there."

Stricker was some eight shots behind Perez at the start of his third round but put himself into contention with a magnificent bogey-free 61 at the PGA West Palmer Course.

That tied Charlie Wi, playing at the PGA West Nicklaus Course, for the best round of the day, and Stricker now has a first Tour title since 2007 in his sights.

Opportunities

"I just gave myself a lot of opportunities today," Stricker said. "I kept the ball in play, hit some close shots, made a couple of lengthy putts and everything that you need to do in an 11-under round, I guess I did.

"I guess the biggest thing was I gave myself a lot of opportunities and didn't make any mistakes."

While Taylor (64) is three shots back, David Berganio (68), Chris Stroud (67), Richard Johnson (67) and Jason Dufner (67) are all four shots adrift on 21-under-par, with Wi, Tom Pernice Jr, Rich Beem, Briny Baid and Robert Garrigus a further stroke back.

Baird, who had briefly taken the lead, stumbled towards the end of his round before eventually signing for a 70.

The 90-hole event is being played over four courses and features a first prize of US $918,000.