Kaye leads Verplank after third round of Hartford

CROMWELL, Conn. -- Jonathan Kaye avoided the late trouble that derailed Phil Mickelson, shooting a 5-under-par 65 to take the third-round lead in the Greater Hartford Open.

Kaye, suspended for two months and placed on probation for the season after a confrontation with a tournament security guard last year, had a 13-under 197 total on the TPC at River Highlands to take a one-stroke lead over Scott Verplank into the final round.

Verplank, who matched the course record with a 61 in the final round last year, birdied six straight holes on the back nine for a 63. Scott Hoch was two strokes back after a 66, and Davis Love III shot a 68 to reach 10 under.

LPGA: Mi Hyun Kim shot her second straight 5-under-par 67 to take sole possession of the lead after three rounds at the LPGA Rochester International at Pittsford, N.Y.

Kim's third straight round in the 60s put her at 13-under 203, five shots ahead of Australia's Karrie Webb, who rallied with birdies on her final three holes to finish with her second straight 72 and a 208 total.

SENIOR PGA: J.C. Snead shot a course record 8-under 64, making an eagle and seven birdies to roar from behind and tie Rodger Davis for the lead after two rounds of the Greater Baltimore Classic at Hunt Valley, Md.

Snead, vying for his first win on the senior tour since 1995, chipped in from 20 feet for a birdie on the 18th hole to cap his finest round of the year and set a record for the low score at the six-year-old Hayfields Country Club course.

MISSOURI AMATEUR: Second-seeded David Jenkins and fourth-seeded Michael Letzig each won two matches to advance to today's 36-hole title match in the Missouri Amateur Championship at Springfield.

Neither Jenkins, of Springfield, nor Letzig, of Richmond, has trailed through five rounds of match play.

Jenkins beat Brent Bayer of Festus 5 and 4 in the quarterfinals before downing Mike Sabo of St. Louis 2 and 1 in the semifinals.

Letzig had his toughest match of the week in the quarterfinal, beating Springfield's Travis Mitchell 2 up.

In the semifinals, Letzig defeated former Southeast Missouri State University golfer Bryan Johnson of Thayer 3 and 2. Johnson was also eliminated in last year's semifinals.

-- From staff, wire reports