Langham has lead at Willow Creek

By Jim Rayburn
Deseret Morning News

Jason Olson, Deseret Morning News

Tournament leader Franklin Langham watches his chip roll toward the pin

Don't expect the winner of this year's Utah Championship to back into the title.

In Saturday's third round, the Nationwide Tour players continued their assault on the par-71 Willow Creek Country Club. Fifty-two players shot under par; 41 shot below 70; and 16 shot 5-under-par 66 or better. One tied the course record with an 8-under 63, and three others only missed that mark by one.

So why would today's final round be any different after three straight days of torrid low scoring? Well, late Saturday the scores did rise slightly as the ball began carrying farther and the greens became firmer. Most of the leaders are expecting similar conditions for round four.

"Luckily, I saw it today so I'll be ready for it tomorrow," said Franklin Langham, who began the third round with a one-shot lead but now has a two-shot margin after firing a 5-under 66 on Saturday — which puts him at a 54-hole record 17 under par.

Still, even if today's conditions are tougher, there's so many players in contention that it's likely that a few players will again go low. Thirteen are within five shots of Langham and 23 players are within five shots of second place.

"You've got to go out and make some birdies," said Jeremy Anderson, tied with Craig Lile for third at 14-under par. "I really don't think the guys are going to come back to the field."

The guy closest to Langham is former Wafflehouse manager and car salesman Richard Johnson, who rallied in with a 4-under 67 on Saturday to finish alone at 15-under par.

"I made a couple of birdies coming in, which was nice because I really couldn't get it going today," Johnson said.

The native of Wales will play in the final twosome for the third time this year when he tees off with Langham at 3 p.m. Johnson failed to win in those two previous final-group events, but still has four top 10 finishes this season and ranks No. 26 on the Nationwide money list. He has two Nationwide wins, but the last came seven years ago.

"It's about time to finish one off," Johnson said. "But to win here you've got to play really good and you've got to be really lucky."

Langham extended his lead thanks to a hot putter. He's No. 1 in the field in putting this week and matched his average of 26 putts a round again on Saturday. He had 10 one-putts on the day and during one stretch on the back nine, where he went back ahead of the field, he had six straight one-putts.

"I'm really solid over the putter right now," Langham said. "You see them going in and you start expecting them all to go in."

A bogey on the par-5 10th, the result of an errant drive, dropped Langham to 13-under par and a tie with Johnson. But he quickly went back in front with birdies on 12, 13, 14 and 17 coming in. Langham currently sits at No. 57 on the money list and the 17-year veteran has only one top 10 finish this season.

"You just keep doing the same things and if it's your time, it's your time," he said on his final-round game plan.

Anderson, a former UNLV star, is having his best tournament since severely spraining his ankle in early July when he stumbled on a tee shot. The injury caused him to miss three weeks — this is the first cut he's made and the first tournament he's played since then without a brace.

"I think if it was going to be a problem, it would have been today," he said in looking for his first Nationwide win.

Matt Weibring, son of PGA Tour veteran D.A. Weibring, got into contention with a record-tying 63 on Saturday — putting him at 12- under par. Shooting 64 on Saturday were D.A. Points, Todd Demsey and Todd Letzig.

None of the three Utahns left in the field made a move Saturday. Daniel Summerhays (70) and Garrett Clegg (71) are at 5-under par. Ogden's Barry Schenk (73) is at minus three.

Third-round leaderboard