La Quinta, Calif. • Last year, Scott Stallings left the Humana Challenge early after a funny conversation that probably made his aching ribs hurt even more.
"I played La Quinta for one round and I played with Carl Pettersson and, after nine holes, he said, 'Either you're going to withdraw or I'm going to withdraw. I can't watch this anymore,' " said Stallings, forced to withdraw after tearing cartilage around five ribs.
This year, Stallings is in position to run away with his third PGA Tour title after opening a five-stroke lead Saturday. He shot a 9-under 63 at PGA West's Jack Nicklaus course to reach 22-under 194 after three days in perfect conditions in the Coachella Valley.
"I stayed aggressive," Stallings said. "Playing with John [Rollins] was a huge help. He's a good guy and he was an easy guy to club off of. ... We made a lot of birdies the last couple days, and so we kind of fed off each other."
Stallings made two eagles, hitting a 6-iron to 8 feet on the par-5 13th early in the round and holing a 20-foot downhill putt on the par-5 eighth.
Abu Dhabi Championship
Justin Rose extended his lead at the Abu Dhabi Championship, shooting a 4-under 68 to take a two-shot lead over Jamie Donaldson and Thorbjorn Olesen.
A day after No. 1 Rory McIlroy and second-ranked Tiger Woods missed the cut, the fifth-ranked Englishman made his third round look easy with seven birdies. After three-putting on the first for a bogey, Rose had a stretch of six birdies over nine holes including sinking a 20-footer on No. 5 that gave him back the lead and an approach shot on No. 9 that rolled to 4 feet from the hole for birdie.
Champions Tour
David Frost shot a 65 Saturday to hold a two-stroke lead on John Cook after the second round of the Mitsubishi Electric Championship in Kaupulehu-Kona, Hawaii.
Frost's bogey-free round left him at 14-under-par 130 at Hualalai Golf Club in the season opener of the Champions Tour. Despite having his first-round lead cut in half while winds gusting to 28 mph pushed scores higher, the 53-year-old South African remained in front with five birdies on the back nine, where he needed just 12 putts.
Leaderboard
Humana Challenge
Scott Stallings -22
Roberto Castro -17
Stewart Cink -17
Charles Howell III -17
John Rollins -17
Charley Hoffman -17
Also
Daniel Summerhays -14
Phil Mickelson -11