Ogilvie hangs on to lead at Hope

Although different parts of Joe Ogilvie's game have come and gone this week, he's managed to hold it together enough to stay in front.

His short game was solid and his tee shots shaky much of the first three rounds of the five-day Bob Hope Chrysler Classic, but things changed Saturday as he shot a 3-under 69 in La Quinta, Calif.

At 26-under 262, the front-running Ogilvie maintained a two-shot lead over Peter Lonard of Australia.

"Yesterday I drove it extremely poorly. Today I drove it extremely well," Ogilvie said. "Yesterday I hit a lot of good iron shoots and putted well.

"Today I hit no decent iron shots and hit a lot of good putts but didn't give myself a lot of opportunities."

The key to his 69, by three shots the highest round of his first four days of the tournament, was the way he mastered the par 5s at La Quinta Country Club.

He rolled in a 12-foot putt for an eagle after reaching the green with his 3-wood on the 512-yard No. 11, and sank shorter birdie putts on two other par 5s.

Ogilvie, who has appeared relaxed the entire week while either tied for the lead or alone atop the leaderboard, smiled and waved to the crowd when his eagle putt dropped.

He barely missed birdie putts on several other holes.

"I had four or five lip-outs, but they were all from 18 to 25 feet, so I really didn't hit the ball great with my irons, which kind of surprised me," said Ogilvie, looking for his first tour victory.

Lonard also shot a 69 to remain alone in second place. Former British Open champion Justin Leonard was another stroke back after a 64 that left him 23 under. Tim Clark had a 66 and was fourth at 266.

Defending champion Phil Mickelson, who also won the Hope in 2002, had a 68 and was in a group at 268, six shots off the pace.

Ogilvie's best finish on the tour is a second-place tie with Mickelson at New Orleans last year. Ogilvie was leading heading into the final nine holes, but Vijay Singh shot a 29 on the back nine to win.

Asked what he learned from that, Ogilvie said, "That no lead is safe. I'm going to have to go low tomorrow. There's not going to be a whole lot of conservative play out from me."

Lonard, 37, the winner of a string of titles in Australia but none in America, has eight top-10 finishes on the PGA Tour, including a third place during his rookie season of 2002.