ESPN.com - Golf Online - Byrum, Andrade tied after four rounds

Associated Press
Saturday, October 14

LAS VEGAS -- Billy Andrade has played enough golf in this gambling city to know one thing -- par won't be a winner on Sunday.

He also knows there's enough birdies up for grabs to make his spot on top of the leaderboard very precarious.


	Scott McCarron lines up a putt on the sixth green on his way to a 6-under-par 66. He is one stroke behind the co-leaders.

"It will be a big, ol' Vegas shootout," Andrade predicted. "Somebody's going to come out and shoot a great round."

Andrade moved into a share of the lead Saturday with a 67 that tied him with Tom Byrum at 24 under through four rounds of the 90-hole Invensys Classic at Las Vegas.

Both players are struggling to make enough money to retain their tour cards, and both realize the danger of trying to protect a lead.

"I wouldn't be surprised if we were sitting there watching each other and somebody blows by us," Byrum said.

Waiting to do just that are two more players battling to get in the top 125 money winners so they can be exempt another year on the PGA Tour.

Scott McCarron was a shot back after his third straight 66, while Shaun Micheel tied the low round of the day with seven birdies and an eagle for a 63 that put him another shot back at 22 under.

"I'd like to get my first win, but I'd like to keep my card, too," said Micheel, who played on the Buy.com Tour last year. "That's my first concern."

That's not a concern of Phil Mickelson, who got within three shots of the lead after a 66.

Mickelson, who hasn't played in six weeks, is using the tournament as a tuneup for the Presidents Cup next week.

"If I can get to eight, nine or 10 under tomorrow, I might have a good shot," Mickelson said.

Byrum had a two-shot lead beginning the day, and it looked like he might finish that way after dropping a birdie putt on No. 16. But he bogeyed the last two holes to drop into a tie with Andrade.

Byrum, who shot 65 each of the first three days, ended with a 69 on yet another perfect day for scoring on the generous TPC Summerlin course.

"I had a little struggling going on," Byrum said. "But I'm still tied for the lead and have a chance to win the tournament. So I'm very happy about that."

Byrum, whose only win in 16 years on the tour came in the 1989 Kemper Open, is on the bubble as he tries to make the top 125 money winners and avoid a fifth trip back to qualifying school.

After making a winding 25 footer for birdie on the par-5 16th, he appeared ready to head into the final round of the 90-hole event with the lead. But, weary from the pace of a 5½-hour round, he 3-putted the 17th hole and made a bad chip from off the green on 18 for bogey.

"I just lost my feel. There was a little fatigue, and maybe my confidence went," he said. "I think I'll feel fresher tomorrow. It was hard to concentrate and focus on what I needed to do out there."

Andrade, who needs to cash some big October checks to get from his spot 159th on the money list into the top 125 exempt list, was feeling a little better about himself after getting in a tie for the lead.

He made no bogeys and five birdies, including a crucial 8-footer on No. 16 after Byrum had already made his birdie.

"I don't have a problem when I get in this position," Andrade said. "My problem has been getting in this position."

Andrade, who only three years ago was battling to get in the top 30 in this tournament, traces his troubles back to last year when he took a month off in May. He came back unable to score consistently and has struggled to find it since.

"No one wants to be in the position I'm in," he said. "You feel embarrassed. You know how good a player you are, you just haven't done it."

Divots

Micheel, who shared the day's best round of 63 with Steve Lowery, came into this year with only $35,688 in career earnings. He is also trying to get in the top 125, and was 130th coming into the week.

Byrum's streak of 297 tournaments without a win since 1989 is the fifth longest on the PGA Tour.

The 24-under total is the best in the tournament after four rounds since 1991. In that year, Andrew Magee won with a tournament record 31-under-par.