Yang leads Honda Classic

March 8, 2009 at 12:00a.m.

PALM BEACH GARDENS, Fla. (AP) — Y.E. Yang heard the question in English, then listened to his translator say it to him again.

Which would be more important, he was asked: A two-year PGA Tour exemption, or the $1,008,000 that goes to the winner of the Honda Classic?

Yang tilted his eyes toward the ceiling, thought for a moment, then gave his reply.

“Both would be nice,” he said.

He’s 18 holes away from each.

Yang shot even-par 70 and finished 7 under on Saturday, good enough for a one-shot lead over Jeff Klauk (67) and Jeff Overton (70, with a triple bogey on No. 11, going twice in the water, followed by two birdies in his last three holes) entering the Honda’s final round.

“I kept fighting,” Overton said. “And now I’ve got a chance to win.”

Best known for beating Tiger Woods at the 2006 HSBC Champions in Shanghai, Yang bogeyed the third hole, birdied the 15th and made nothing but pars the rest of the way, a slow-and-steady approach that worked. A victory Sunday would accomplish his primary goal for this season, getting out of a return trip to Q-School.

“I felt good,” Yang said. “I just didn’t make the putts I needed to.”

On a topsy-turvy day at the Honda, six different players had at least a share of the lead at some point, but the guy who started the third round in front found a way to finish there, too.

Charlie Wi (65), Brett Quigley (67) and John Rollins (68) all finished two shots off Yang’s pace, at 5 under.

“If you would have said, take 65 on the first tee, I would have said, ’See ya later,”’ Wi said. “So, you know, I gave myself a chance.”

Ben Crane briefly got into the lead with an ace on the 162-yard fifth hole, then chipped in on the next hole for birdie to get to 7 under. He then made two double bogeys in the next five holes, finishing three shots back.

And there’s Mark Calcavecchia, who will start Sunday tied for seventh and in position to pull off something statistically bizarre.

He won the Honda in 1987, prevailed again 11 years later — and now, 11 years after that, is in contention again, at 4 under for the week.

“It is nice to know that I can still compete out here with these young guys. It is,” said Calcavecchia, who shot a 65 and moved three spots up the leaderboard after leaving the course.