RENO, Nev. -- Craig Barlow birdied four straight holes and was three strokes ahead of Tim Herron at 14 under Saturday with two holes left in the suspended third round of the Reno-Tahoe Open.
Barlow, who shot a 65 in the second round in search of his first PGA Tour victory, used a pair of 350-yard plus drives to spark the birdie string midway through his round Saturday at Montreux Golf and Country Club.
"I actually had the 54-hole lead at The International last year and a 36-hole lead in Vancouver, so I have done it before," said Barlow, a native Nevadan who lives in Henderson. "I haven't got that 72-hole lead, though, the one I'm after."
J.P Hayes, Rod Pampling, Cameron Beckman and Guy Boros were the leaders in the clubhouse at 9-under 207 when darkness stopped play just before 8 p.m. PDT, with Barlow, Herron and Dennis Paulson in the last group on the 17th green.
Barlow, Herron and Paulson, who is 8 under, will have to complete the round starting at 8:50 a.m. Sunday before the final round begins on the 7,472-yard course on the edge of the Sierra Nevada.
Rookie Nick Watney, Paul Stankowski and Kirk Triplett finished the third round at 8-under 208.
"Everybody out here is going to be firing for birdies. It's out there," said Barlow, who worked five years for Pizza Hut before joining the tour in 1998.
"I just have to do my job. The bottom line is just one shot at a time. I know it's boring to say that over and over, but it's very true," he said.
Barlow will return to a 15-foot par putt, while Herron will begin with a 4-foot birdie attempt on the 616-yard, par-5 17th. Both players hit their second shot into greenside bunkers.
Herron got out cleanly, but Barlow's shot went only 5 feet and landed in another bunker before he played onto the green and called it quits for the day as darkness fell.
Herron, who tied for 14th last week at the PGA Championship and ranks 40th on the tour money list this year with $1.5 million, has three career victories.
"I've been in the position. I know a lot of weird things can happen. I've seen it, I've done it," he said.
Herron said both he and Barlow have been playing well.
"But we're not far enough ahead to just think it's a head-to-head shot," he said.
"I think someone could go out in the morning and shoot a pretty low number. ... Anyone can win out here. It's the PGA Tour. These guys are good. That's what they say. Look at the major winners this year. You can't really taken anyone for granted," Herron said.
Barlow, 31, was an all-state tennis player in high school in Nevada before he switched to golf and won the state amateur title in 1994. He has won $313,055 this year to rank 132nd on the money list -- his best finish a tie for fourth last month in the Greater Hartford Open -- and push his career earnings over six years to nearly $2 million.
Barlow, who started the day a shot off the lead at 9-under 135, hit his drive 359 yards on the 616-yard No. 9 before making a 1-foot putt for a birdie. He drove 352 yards on the next hole and hit his approach to 10 feet for another birdie to move in front of Herron.
Barlow hit within a foot again from about 43 yards out on the 584-yard, par-5 11th, then made his fourth birdie in a row with a 6-foot putt on the 186-yard 12th to get to 15 under par before a bogey on the next hole dropped him back to 14 under.
Herron started the round tied for the lead with Paulson at 10 under, and held a one-stroke lead over Barlow at 12-under when his approach spun back 12 feet to set up a 2-foot birdie putt on the par-4 sixth. But his four birdies on the round so far were undermined by three bogeys, including a three-putt from 28 feet on the 186-yard 12th hole.
Paulson was among those who had to finish his second round Saturday morning after rain delays Thursday and Friday. He made five straight birdies for a second-round 66, but was 2 over in his third round to drop back to 8 under.
Notah Begay III, who won the inaugural Reno-Tahoe Open his rookie year in 1999, was among those who missed the cut of 1 over after rounds of 72-76.
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