Golf: Matt Kuchar still leads at Colonial after long Saturday

Fort Worth, Texas • Matt Kuchar finished a long Saturday at Colonial exhausted and still a stroke in front.

"This morning feels like a day ago," Kuchar said. "It's hard to believe it's the same day."

After making a 12-foot birdie putt at the par-3 16th hole, the same place where his day began at 7:13 a.m. to finish the suspended second round, Kuchar had two nifty par-savers to finish a 1-under 69 in the third round. He was at 11-under 199, one ahead of Graham DeLaet, Boo Weekley, Chris Stroud and Matt Every.

When the second round was suspended Friday night because of an approaching storm, Kuchar had just hit his tee shot at the par-3 16th. He resumed there early Saturday with a two-putt from about 40 feet. That was part of three quick pars to keep his one-stroke lead after two rounds, then he played in the final group that finished just after 5 p.m.

Kuchar made his go-ahead stroke in the third round at No. 16 — after falling behind by as many as two strokes — before his approach shot at the 379-yard 17th landed in a greenside bunker. He blasted to 13 feet and saved par before hooking his tee shot at No. 18 into the left rough. He found more tall grass near the green with his second shot before pitching inside 3 feet.

"To not give away a stroke and maintain a one-shot lead is a good position to be in. Everybody has got to come get me," Kuchar said. "Not only a bunch of players, but a bunch of good players up there. … I'm looking forward to having the lead and seeing if I can maintain it, and my goal will be to grow the lead."

Weekly, even with problems maintaining focus in his left eye, and Every shot third-round 66s. Stroud had a 67 and DeLaet, playing with Kuchar, had three back-nine bogeys before a birdie at No. 18 for a 69.

Ranked No. 13 in the world — the highest in the field — Kuchar started the third round with a birdie at the easy par-5 first hole. At the 458-yard third hole, his 8-foot birdie attempt rolled over the cup without falling, ending his streak of 34 consecutive made putts under 10 feet this week at Hogan's Alley.

Senior PGA

Kenny Perry had an eagle, five birdies and four bogeys, mixing spectacular shots with stumbles and doing enough of the right things for a 3-under 68 and a two-stroke lead after the third round of the Senior PGA Championship in St. Louis.

Two-time champion Jay Haas was second after closing with a pair of birdies for a 67. Cochran was three strokes back after rallying for two birdies on the back nine for an even-par 71.

LPGA

In Paradise Islands, Bahamas, Paola Moreno of Colombia played another bogey-free round on a 12-hole golf course to take the lead in the Bahamas LPGA Classic.

Playing in the final group, with the sun setting over the ocean along the eighth fairway, Moreno handled the wind and increasing darkness to make a simple par for a 4-under 41 and 9-under 81 total. That gave her a one-shot lead over Lindsey Wright, who had seven birdies for a 38.