Perry takes control after post-Annika Colonial's third round

FORT WORTH, Texas -- With the focus back on the leaders after Annika Sorenstam missed the cut, Kenny Perry didn't go unnoticed again as he ran away from the rest of the field at the Colonial.

Perry matched the Colonial record with a 9-under 61 in the third round Saturday. He was at 17 under and led by eight strokes -- the largest lead after 54 holes on the tour this season.

On target from the start, Perry birdied his first three holes and then made three straight birdies to end his front nine. With three more birdies on the back nine, he finished his best round in 17 years on the PGA Tour.

"I can't remember holding it together that many holes in a row consecutively," Perry said. "I've had stretches of six, seven, eight holes pretty good. But I don't remember having this many."

Perry was also the leader after the second round, but his 64 Friday was basically a footnote with Sorenstam wrapping up her historic appearance on the PGA Tour.

"They have never paid attention to me anyway, so it doesn't matter to me," Perry said.

Still, the media workroom with more than 200 work spaces was only about half-full Saturday. A couple dozen media attended his post-round news conference in the same room that was filled with more than 300 people the previous three days for Sorenstam.

There was a more-traditional feel around Colonial a day after Sorenstam finished her historic appearance as the first woman in 58 years to play on the PGA Tour. She missed the cut by four strokes at 5 over.

Thousands of spectators were still on the course, as would be normal for a weekend round. But they were spread throughout the 7,080-yard layout, and not crammed 10 to 12 deep along the ropes and following Sorenstam for every hole.

"It was completely different," said Dean Wilson, who was at 3 under and played with Sorenstam the first two rounds. "There was not as much of a gallery, and not as much excitement in the air. It's kind of what I'm used to. A lot of people were asking me where my gallery went."

When Wilson went to the 10th hole, the same place where Sorenstam started her PGA Tour experiment Thursday, less than 50 people surrounded the tee box. Only a handful of those followed after Wilson and Dallas resident Harrison Frazar hit their shots.

Rory Sabbatini was the closest to Perry at 9 under after his third-round 67 that started with an eagle. Jim Furyk (69) was nine strokes back.

"Kenny definitely seemed like he was playing a different golf course than the rest of us," Furyk said.

"I got off to a good start and thought, 'OK, here we go.' That put me back to level with him," Sabbatini said. "And I go to the fifth hole and I looked at the scoreboard, all the work I thought I had done the first five holes was just obliterated by what he was doing."

Perry's score is already one stroke better than Fulton Allem's record-low 16-under victory in 1993.

Perry started with a tap-in birdie after his first putt from more than 50 feet on the 565-yard opening hole. Perry made a 12-footer at No. 2 and put his approach 3 feet from the pin at the 476-yard third hole, the longest par 4 on the course.

Other events

LPGA Corning Classic: Scotland's Catriona Matthew shot a 5-under 67 to take a two-stroke lead over Canada's Lorie Kane into the final round of the LPGA Corning Classic.

Matthew, who started the day tied with Kane at 12 under, was at 17-under 199 and easily within reach of the tournament record of 20-under 268 set in 1998 by Tammie Green.

Kane was second after a 69.

Columbus Southern Open: Jim Thorpe shot a 6-under 64 and Morris Hatalsky had a 65 on to share the second-round lead in the Champions Tour's Columbus Southern Open.

Thorpe and Hatalsky had 9-under 131 totals on the Green Island Country Club course for a one-stroke lead over Doug Tewell (64), Tom Jenkins (65), Allen Doyle (66) and Ireland's Des Smith (66).

Volvo PGA Championship: South Africa's Trevor Immelman closed with three straight birdies for an 8-under 64 and a two-shot lead after three rounds of the Volvo PGA Championship.

-- From wire reports