Three share lead at Glen Club

Kris Blanks shot a 69, Skip Kendall a 71 and David McKenzie a 67 Saturday in the third round for a three-way share of the lead at 12-under-par 204 in the Nationwide Tour's Bank of America Open at Glenview.

Brendon de Jonge (64), Chris Smith (68) and Tommy Tolles (69) are at 10-under 206, while Casey Wittenberg (69) and Matt Weibring (70) are 3 shots behind.

Blanks jumped out of the gate with birdies on The Glen Club's first five holes, equaling the tournament record set by Aron Price a year ago on the same stretch. But Blanks then suffered a setback with bogeys on two of the next four holes (Nos. 6 and 9), a four-hole stretch which annually ranks as the toughest at The Glen Club.

"To get off to as good of a start as I did and to hit it as good as I did and then to finish like that puts a sour taste in my mouth," said Blanks, who finished with bogeys on the final two holes. "To make bogeys on Nos. 17 and 18 is just awful. But I'm still leading, so that is the silver lining."

Blanks arrived at Glenview having made the cut in six straight tournaments, including three consecutive top-25 finishes and a season-best tie for eighth place at the Fort Smith Classic. That momentum carried the 35-year-old Warner Robbins, Ga., native to a first-round 7-under 65 and now within 18 holes of stepping into the winner's circle for the first time on the Nationwide Tour. If he does so, the victory will come on the same course where a year ago he established a career-best third-place finish.

Kendall did his best to equal Blanks' start with birdies on three of the first five holes but also faced difficulties with bogeys on Nos. 9, 11 and 16. He finally moved to 12 under when he rolled in a 10-footer for birdie on the par-3 17th to secure his spot in today's final threesome.

"It was nice getting that birdie on the 17th hole," said Kendall, a 43-year-old native of Milwaukee. "That was huge for me. I was just trying to hang on to Kris' shirt tails at the start of the day."

McKenzie was consistent the entire day, with a bogey on No. 16 his only miscue. The 40-year-old Melbourne, Australia, native has missed 8 cuts in 11 starts and is in 90th on the official money list.