Wild finish leads to four-way tie in Disney
Lake Buena Vista, FL (Sports Network) - Second-round leader Justin Leonard, George McNeill, Mathias Gronberg and Justin Rose are knotted atop the leaderboard after Saturday's third round of the Children's Miracle Network Classic.
The quartet is tied at 13-under 203 and is one clear at Disney's Magnolia Course.
These four share the lead, but how they got there was downright "Goofy." Leonard had a commanding cushion until his flat stick abandoned him on the back nine.
He three-putted from around 15 feet for a bogey at 17 but had a putt at the last for sole possession of first.
McNeill squandered the most late Saturday afternoon. He was in first by himself after a 30-foot eagle at 14, his second of the round, but came apart late.
McNeill drove into the water at 17 en route to a bogey, then found the left trees at the last and made double-bogey to fall into a tie for the lead.
Rose tallied four birdies in a six-hole span over the back nine to vault up the leaderboard. He bogeyed No. 17, but had a great up-and-down from a back bunker at the closing hole for his piece of first place.
Then there was Gronberg. The Swede was flawless on Saturday with six birdies and no bogeys; five of his birdies came over the back nine. He finished with a 66 well before his fellow co-leaders, who comprised Saturday's final group.
With one round to go in the PGA Tour's 2009 season, the four co-leaders will have cards for next year, but that, and the fact they are 54-hole leaders, may be the only things they have in common.
Leonard, who posted a 71 on Saturday, is the 1997 British Open champion, a 12- time PGA Tour winner and a possible future Hall of Fame selection.
Rose is a European Ryder Cup participant, a multi-time champion on the European Tour and internationally and formerly the Order of Merit winner on the European Tour. The Englishman, who had a 69 in round three, is winless on the PGA Tour.
McNeill owns one PGA Tour win, the 2007 Frys.com Open, and lost a playoff earlier in the Fall Series at the Justin Timberlake Shriners Hospitals for Children Open. He is 88th on the money list and finished with a 69 on Saturday.
Gronberg is headed to the tour next year, despite ranking 190th on the money list.
He won this year on the Nationwide Tour and pocketed enough cash to finish 24th on that circuit's money list, thus earning a PGA Tour card for 2010.
Sunday could bring a shootout with no one having anything to really play for among the leaders other than a PGA Tour victory. This event is traditionally one of the lowest-scoring affairs every year, meaning everyone on the leaderboard might have a shot.
Nick O'Hern (66) and Carl Pettersson (67) share fifth at minus-12, while Will MacKenzie, who shot a 66 on Saturday, is alone in seventh at 11-under 205.
Stephen Ames (67), Joe Ogilvie (67), Jeff Overton (68), Bill Haas (69), Matt Weibring (70) and former Masters champion Zach Johnson (69) are tied for eighth at minus-10.
11/14 16:52:30 ET
