Ogilvy takes over lead at Barracuda Championship

Reno, NV (SportsNetwork.com) - Geoff Ogilvy picked up 12 points on Saturday and he took over the lead by three points at the Barracuda Championship.

Ogilvy, who began the day three points behind 36-hole leader Nick Watney, stands at 35 points through three rounds. Ogilvy, the 2006 U.S. Open champion, is seeking his eighth career victory on the PGA Tour, and his first since winning the 2010 SBS Championship.

Watney had a disappointing finish to his third round at Montreux Golf and Country Club, and he fell into a tie for second at 32 points following a six- point effort on Saturday. He is joined there by Jason Allred, who picked up 14 points to surge into a tie for second.

Brendan Steele is alone in fourth place with 30 points after picking up 10 points in his third round.

John Mallinger's 19 points on Saturday set a single-day tournament record and that jumped him into a tie for fifth at 28 points. He is joined by Lee Janzen (13) and David Lingmerth (12).

Ogilvy began his round with a par before pouring in his first birdie of the day at No. 2 to give him two points. Three straight pars preceded his second birdie at No. 6. Ogilvy's first mistake of the day came at No. 7, where he dropped a point with a bogey.

The 37-year-old made up for that quickly, however, as he rattled off back-to- back birdies at eight and nine, making the turn with seven points on the day.

Birdies at 13 and 16 had Ogilvy rolling, but a his second bogey of the day at No. 17 dropped him another point. Ogilvy responded fast yet again with a birdie at the par-5 18th to give him 12 points.

"I played quite well today," Ogilvy said. "Birdied the par 5s I needed to birdie, which is ante in this format, because birdies are so much better than bogeys are bad. So it's definitely a format that rewards the guy that makes a lot of birdies."

Watney did not get off to a fast start, making five straight pars to begin his round. He made birdies at six and eight, with his lone bogey on the front nine sandwiched in between at No. 7.

Watney made the turn with just three points on the day, but he got things going a little bit with birdies at 12 and 14. He dropped another point at No. 17 and he had to settle for a disappointing par on the par-5 18th, where he had a good look at a birdie putt from about nine feet away.

"A little bit disappointed, to be honest," Watney said. "Missed my share of putts. But I've got a chance tomorrow. So I would have taken that at the beginning of the week."

Allred got his name into contention with a strong round, which started with birdies at one and three. He tripped to a bogey at the par-3 seventh, but responded with back-to-back birdies at eight and nine, putting him at seven points for the day.

Two straight bogeys at 11 and 12 dropped Allred two points, but he got those back with a birdie at 14. One of the best shots of the day came off Allred's club at the par-4 15th when he holed out his approach shot from 122 yards out for eagle, giving him five more points.

Allred closed his round out with two more points after a birdie at the last.

Mallinger did most of his damage on the back-nine with just two birdies on the front at three and four. He made some noise with a hole-in-one at the 171-yard par-3 11th, giving him five points.

"In this format, you get five points obviously you're right back in the tournament," said Mallinger. "So for me I knew I had some birdie holes coming off par-5. Hit a close one the next hole, par-5. Get some momentum going and next thing you know you're right back in the tournament."

The hole-in-one got Mallinger rolling as he dropped in back-to-back birdies at 12 and 13 before making another gain at 15. Two more birdies at 17 and 18 gave Mallinger the single-day tournament record.

NOTES: Mallinger's 19 points bested the record set by Watney and Jonathan Byrd. Watney picked up 18 points in Thursday's first round, while Byrd originally set the record in the fourth-round last year ... Ben Curtis also made a hole-in-one on Saturday when he drained his first shot at the 186-yard, par-3 third hole ... Due to impending inclement weather, players will go off of split tees and in threesomes for Sunday's final round.