WHITE SULPHUR SPRINGS, July 30, 2011 (AFP) - American Anthony Kim fired an eight-under par 62 on Saturday to seize a one-shot lead after three rounds of the US PGA Tour's Greenbrier Classic.
Kim had a 54-hole total of 10-under 200 on the par-70 Old White TPC course.
He was one shot in front of US tour rookie Scott Stallings, who carded a 66 for 201.
Gary Woodland carded a 67 and overnight co-leader Webb Simpson a 69 for 202.
Zimbabwe's Brendon de Jonge, who shared the second-round lead, carded a 72 to fall into a tie for 11th on 205.
De Jonge had two bogeys and a double-bogey in his first seven holes.
Kim played without a bogey and his eight birdies included three in a row from the 10th hole. All of his birdies came from inside 10 feet.
He took the outright lead at the par-four 14th, where he hit a wedge from 113 yards to within a foot.
"I was just hitting smart golf shots," he said. "I was starting to think my way around the course instead of just get up to a tee and the fairways are 40 yards wide and the rough is not that penal and just try to hit it as hard as I can. That's not how you play golf."
It was his best round of the year and gives him a chance to book a berth in next week's World Golf Championships Bridgestone Invitational with a victory.
If he can finish third or better, he could earn a place in the final major of the year, the PGA Championship in Atlanta.
"I haven't had this much fun playing golf in a long time," said Kim, whose last victory was in last year's Houston Open.
After that he had thumb surgery and was sidelined for three months.
Kim has endured an erratic season. He got into the British Open as an alternate and finished tied for fifth, but last week he was disqualified from the Canadian Open for signing an incorrect scorecard after an 11-over 81 in the second round.
Kim said he'd benefited after the Canadian DQ from a talk with his mother, whom he called a "great golf psychologist."
"It was just about having fun, relaxing and enjoying the position I'm in because I'm very fortunate to be playing golf for a living," he said.
"Sometimes you forget about that. I was pretty upset about my 81 and she noticed somebody in the gallery who was less fortunate. We talked about that and I came out here ready to play some golf and have a good time."
It's a big turnaround from the first six months of the season, when, Kim said, being on the course was stressful because he didn't know where his shots were going.
"People may think I'm exaggerating, but that's how tough this game got for me," Kim said. "Going back to the basics is really what helped my game. Because without that, I would still be struggling."
Leading scores on Saturday after the third round of the $6 million Greenbrier Classic (USA unless noted, par 70):
200 - Anthony Kim 69-69-62
201 - Scott Stallings 70-65-66
202 - Gary Woodland 65-70-67, Webb Simpson 65-68-69
203 - Jimmy Walker 69-72-62, Bill Haas 71-67-65, Chris Couch 68-68-67
204 - Nick O'Hern (AUS) 70-68-66, Cameron Tringale 70-67-67, John Merrick 69-67-68
205 - Chris DiMarco 66-75-64, John Senden (AUS) 70-70-65, Johnson Wagner 72-67-66, D.A. Points 71-67-67, Scott Verplank 72-66-67, Brian Davis (GBR) 71-64-70, Brendon de Jonge (ZIM) 66-67-72
...
206 - Andres Romero (ARG) 71-69-66
207 - Ryuji Imada (JPN) 69-70-68, David Hearn (CAN) 66-72-69, Trevor Immelman (RSA) 64-70-73
208 - Steven Bowditch (AUS) 65-75-68, Andre Stolz (AUS) 69-69-70, Chris Baryla (CAN) 67-69-72, Aron Price (AUS) 69-67-72
209 - Adam Hadwin (CAN) 70-71-68, Carl Pettersson (SWE) 70-70-69, Steve Allan (AUS) 71-68-70, Fabian Gomez (ARG) 71-68-70
210 - Sergio Garcia (ESP) 72-69-69
214 - Camilo Villegas (COL) 71-66-77
215 - Bi-o Kim (KOR) 71-70-74