Golf Events / Editor / 29 April 2007 / Leave a Comment

Luke Donald carded his 11th consecutive under-par round at the Byron Nelson Championship to retain a one-shot lead after the third round in Texas.

The world number 11 struggled early in his round and finished bogey, par to card a 67 and move to 10 under, one ahead of Scott Verplank who cut his lead with a 66.

Michael Allen is third, on eight under, two shots ahead of Britain's Ian Poulter in fourth with Vijay Singh and Phil Mickelson among five players tied for fifth on five under.

Donald shot an even par 35 on the front nine and at one point was three shots behind Dallas-born Verplank.
But the 29-year-old Englishman recovered with a run of five birdies between the 7th and 16th holes and is looking forward to the final round.

"I got off to a little bit of a slow start but stayed patient, knew that there were some scoring opportunities out there, and made some nice birdies on the back nine," he said.

"I'm looking forward to it, looking forward to the challenge. I've played three solid rounds, so I just need to do much the same on Sunday.

"One shot isn't much, but I'd rather have a one-shot lead than have to chase. It puts it into my hands a little more.
"If I play solidly, unless someone does something spectacular, then I've got a good chance to win.
"I'm at a part of my career where I want to win as many tournaments as I can, and being in contention on Sundays is the place you want to be."
Play stopped for a minute in the afternoon to honour Byron Nelson, the former tournament host, who died in September at the age of 94.