Glover Now Two Up in New Orleans


Though he stumbled a bit in the middle of the back nine, Lucas Glover rebounded with a birdie on the final hole to post a 2-under 70 to extend his 36-hole lead to two shots in the Zurich Classic of New Orleans. The $6.6 million PGA Tour event began Thursday at TPC Louisiana in Avondale.

After going out with three birdies and a bogey to make the turn in 2-under 34, Glover, a 33-year-old who won the 2009 U.S. Open at Bethpage Black, tacked on another birdie on the par-5 11th.

But two bogeys on Nos. 14 and 17 took him back to 1-under on the round before his closing birdie on the par-5 18th to reach 14-under 202, two shots ahead of Kyle Stanley (65), Jimmy Walker (66), Bill Horschel (66) and D.A. Points (70). Three back is Kevin Stadler, who matched Saturday's low round of 7-under 65.

Tied for seventh at 10-under 206 are Sweden's Henrik Norlander (65), Ricky Barnes (66), Ken Looper (67) and Boo Weekley (73).

Barnes, who took the first-round lead with a 64 but slipped down the leaderboard with a 76 Friday, is only four shots back heading into Sunday's final round and within reach of his first Tour victory. Weekley, who began Saturday only a shot behind Glover, went the other way in the third round but is still in good shape in search of his third title.

Five behind the leader are Ken Duke (68), Harris English (69), Nick Watney (69), Luke Guthrie (69), Bobby Gates (70) and Justin Rose (70).

Defending champion Jason Dufner shot a 67 to rise into a tie for 17th at 8-under 208 with 12 others, including four-time major champion Ernie Els (72). Saturday at TPC Louisiana was designated as "Blue Out" day in homage to Autism Awareness month; Els and his wife's son, Ben, suffers from autism.

Guan Tianlang, the 14-year-old amateur from China who became the youngest player ever to make the cut in a PGA Tour event after posting rounds of 72 and 69 at the Zurich Classic, had a tough outing, shooting a 5-over 77. "I didn't do pretty good," Guan told reporters. "I didn't have a good start, and I tried to start back in the middle and made a couple birdies. But it was not a very good round."

Because of the threat of bad weather Sunday, tournament officials moved up the tee times and will have threesomes go off on both the first and 10th tees, with the first groups starting at 8:00 a.m. (ET).

For complete scoring details, visit http://www.pgatour.com/tournaments/zurich-classic-of-new-orleans/leaderboard.html.