WHITE SULPHUR SPRINGS, W.Va. --- Jeff Overton saw J.B. Holmes and D.A. Points flirt with 59s, then rode his own hot finish to move within a round of his first PGA Tour win.
Overton overcame two early bogeys for 4-under-par 66 on Saturday and a three-stroke lead over Points at the Greenbrier Classic.
Overton didn't realize his four-shot lead was gone until after Points made a barrage of birdies to jump ahead by three strokes.
"If anything it might have helped me because I was like, 'Geez, what are you doing here, Jeff?' " Overton said. "Here he is three shots up. I was like, 'All right, we've got to get something going here.' I kind of buckled in and made some putts."
Overton made five birdies on the back nine of the Old White Course to move to 18-under through three rounds in the inaugural tournament.
The 27-year-old Overton kept the lead despite the low rounds of the year from Points and Holmes, but their dreams of making history with 59s ended on the 572-yard 17th.
Points three-putted for bogey, finished with 61 and is alone in second at 15-under, and Holmes couldn't convert a 10-footer for eagle at No. 17 and shot 60.
Boo Weekley shot 67 to reach 13-under, and Holmes is in a four-way tie for fourth with Jonathan Byrd (64), Brendon de Jonge (65) and Jimmy Walker (67) at 12-under for the tournament.
Overton led Weekley by four shots to start his day but bogeyed Nos. 2 and 5. By then, Points had taken over with nine birdies over his first 13 holes.
Despite difficulty finding greens in his round, Overton answered with five birdies down the stretch, including short putts at Nos. 16 and 17.
Points, also seeking his first win, admits thinking about 59 after holing an 11-foot putt at No. 16. But those thoughts were short lived.
His second shot on No. 17 found a greenside bunker, where he had an awkward stance and blasted out to 28 feet. His birdie attempt was well short and his 4-footer for par slid past.
Points still had a chance to become the fifth player to shoot 59 on Tour with a hole-in-one at the 148-yard 18th, a rare par-3 finishing hole. His tee shot safely found the middle of the green and he made par.
"A little disappointed at first, and fun while it lasted," Points said. "But, you know, it's one of those things that I think we all have opportunity for stuff like this. There's been a couple guys, and there's going to be somebody (Sunday) that will probably have an opportunity."
Holmes, who had 11 birdies and a bogey, went driver-9 iron on No. 17 but watched an 11-foot eagle putt slide to the left. He birdied the par-3 18th for his 60.
LPGA TOUR: In Southport, England, Yani Tseng shot her third consecutive 4-under-par 68, and takes a four-stroke lead into today's final round of the Women's British Open.
The 21-year-old star from Taiwan took advantage of the short, 472-yard, par-5 final hole by hitting an 8-iron to within 20 feet with her second shot. She rolled in the eagle putt to finish off her round, doubling her cushion over Australian Katherine Hull.
Tseng is at 12-under and has just one bogey through 54 holes. Hull had 66, which included five consecutive birdies to complete her round.
American Morgan Pressel equaled the course record with 65 to move to 3-under for the tournament.
EUROPEAN TOUR: In Killarney, Ireland, England's Ross Fisher followed his second-round 61 with even-par 71, leaving him with a one-stroke lead in the Irish Open.
Fisher, five shots ahead after birdieing four of the first seven holes, has a 12-under 201 total at the Killarney Golf and Fishing Club.
Italy's Francesco Molinari (69) and England's Chris Wood (66) are tied for second, Spain's Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano (68) is another stroke back at 10-under, and Irish star Padraig Harrington (69) and Australia's Richard Green (69) are 9-under.
NATIONWIDE TOUR: In Omaha, Neb., James Hahn shot 7-under-par 64 to tie Kevin Chappell for the lead after three rounds of the Cox Classic at Champions Run.
The two are at 17-under 196. Chappell, who was tied for the lead with former University of South Carolina's Kyle Thompson after the second round, shot 68. Thompson had 69 and dropped into a nine-way tie for third, one back.
North Augusta's Scott Brown shot 70 and is in an eight-way tie for 43rd at 205. Aiken's Stephen Poole had 75 and is 63rd at 211.
Augusta native Charles Howell shot a second consecutive 67 and is tied for eighth place after three rounds of the Greenbrier Classic.
Howell, who opened with 65 on Thursday, carded three birdies and is at 11-under-par 199 -- seven shots off the lead of Jeff Overton.
Swainsboro, Ga., resident Blake Adams had four birdies and one bogey en route to 67 in the third round. He is 5-under for the tournament.
-- From staff reports
The Augusta Chronicle ©2012. All Rights Reserved.
Back 
