Imada, Matteson remain tied for lead

They fired 69s for a two-shot lead entering the final round of the AT&T Classic.

ASSOCIATED PRESS

DULUTH, Ga. — Ryuji Imada and Troy Matteson remain tied for the AT&T Classic lead on Saturday, shooting 3-under 69s at TPC Sugarloaf to take a two-stroke advantage over Camilo Villegas into the final round.

Imada, a former University of Georgia player, and Matteson, a former Georgia Tech star, had 13-under 203 totals. Villegas was 11 under after a 68, and Masters champion Zach Johnson (69), local favorite Matt Kuchar (64) and Lee Janzen (67) were 10 under.

Imada nearly eagled the par-5 18th despite flying the rear bunker. He tapped in after chipping within a foot of the hole, a shot that caused many in the gallery to bark in approval at the former Georgia Bulldogs standout.

Matteson had a two-stroke lead over his partner after a birdie at the par-4 14th, but Imada set up his spectacular finish with a birdie at the par-3 16th.

Birdie binge helps Villegas

Villegas, a 25-year-old Colombian, moved into a share of the lead with three straight birdies before bogeying No. 8.

Matteson closed last season with five straight top-10 finishes, including his first career victory, but he arrived this week having missed six cuts in his last eight events.

Janzen hasn’t won since earning his second U.S. Open title in 1998.

Matteson was helping Janzen lobby AT&T tournament director Dave Kaplan for a sponsor’s exemption before so many of the PGA Tour’s top players declined invitations. That allowed Janzen, who didn’t qualify the last three weeks, to join the field.

“As of last week, I wasn’t in the field yet, but I had made reservations at a hotel and planned on coming all along,” Janzen said. “I’ve played this tournament every year since we moved to the new course.”

Kuchar’s 64 was the best round of the day.

LPGA

CLIFTON, N.J. — Sarah Lee went shot for shot with defending champion Lorena Ochoa and got the best of the No. 1 player in women’s golf.

She will have to do it one more time, though, to win for the first time on the LPGA Tour.

Lee shot a near flawless 7-under-par 65 to open a two-shot lead over Ochoa after three rounds of the $1.4 million Sybase Classic, a tournament that has been seemingly been reduced to two-player field.

No one else is even close to the leaders.