Parnevik close to being a winner, if he can hold on

SAN ANTONIO (AP) — It has been 61⁄2 years since Jesper Parnevik won on the PGA Tour. But he hasn’t forgotten the feeling.

“The way I remember, it was a lot easier to win tournaments than it was out there today,” Parnevik said.

Parnevik moved a step closer to his first victory since 2001, shooting a 4-under 66 on Saturday to take a three-stroke lead into the final round of the Texas Open.

The 42-year-old Swede had an 18-under 192 total on the LaCantera Golf Club Resort Course after opening with rounds of 61 and 65. He won the last of his five PGA Tour titles in the 2001 Honda Classic.

Fellow Swede Mathias Gronberg was 15 under after a 65. Texan Justin Leonard, the 2000 and ’01 winner, was 14 under after a 64, and Ryan Armour (64), Daniel Chopra (64), Shigeki Maruyama (65) and Chris Stroud (64) followed at 12 under.

Gronberg, in his fourth full season on the PGA Tour, was a 15-year-old caddy for Parnevik at the 1985 Swedish Match Play Championship.

Leonard also has some history with Parnevik. He won his only major championship when he came from five shots behind third-rounder leader Parnevik to win the 1997 British Open Championship at Troon.

“[His] lead is not insurmountable,” Leonard said. “Jesper obviously shot 9 under the first day and backed it pretty well the last two rounds. But if he continues to play the way he is, he’s probably out too far.”

Because of the long time since his last win, Parnevik said he had some doubts in his game even though he entered the round with a four-shot lead.

“It was tough out there, I thought, for me,” he said. “I was not very relaxed over the shots or the putts. Now, when I haven’t played that great for a while, it’s a lot tougher because those bad shots seem to stick in your mind somewhere.”