GOLF ROUNDUP : Amateur Has Lead by Two in Atlanta

David Duval said he’s not ready to join the PGA Tour--yet.

“I don’t think there’s any reason to turn pro,” the Georgia Tech junior said Saturday after shooting a six-under-par 66 that gave him a two-shot lead after the third round of the Atlanta Classic.

“I’ve played good for three days,” he said. “That doesn’t mean I can play good every week. I’m a college kid. Money doesn’t matter to me.”

Duval had an 11-under-par 205 total for 54 holes on the 7,018-yard Atlanta Country Club course, good for a two-shot lead over Tom Kite and Jay Don Blake.

Duval, the only amateur in the field, used two long birdie putts and a short eagle putt on the final hole to take the lead.

A packed gallery surrounding the 18th green roared its approval as Duval strolled to the green after hitting his approach six feet from the cup on the 499-yard, par-five hole.

Kite, who said he had trouble with the wind all day, had one bogey and one birdie in his round of 72. Blake shot 70. Both Kite and Blake salvaged par on the final hole after landing in the water on their second shots.

Patrick Burke was alone at 209 after shooting a 68.

Five players were tied at 210--Paul Azinger after a 65, Brad Bryant, Larry Mize and Russ Cochran with 71s and Mark Carnevale with a 72.

Duval, 20, is trying to become the third amateur to win a PGA Tour event in seven years. Phil Mickelson won the 1991 Tucson Open and Scott Verplank won the 1985 Western Open, the first victory by an amateur since Doug Sanders won the Canadian Open in 1956.

Dana Lofland continued her five-week roll by shooting a three-under-par 69 and retaining a share of the lead after two rounds of the LPGA’s Crestar-Farm Fresh Classic at Chesapeake, Va.

A back-nine run of three birdies in four holes at Greenbrier Country Club helped Lofland tie Donna Andrews at seven-under 137. Andrews birdied her final three holes and five of the last eight for a 67.

Ayako Okamoto, who began the round tied with Lofland for the lead at four under, had a 70 and was at 138. Also at that figure was Jennifer Wyatt, who had a 68.

It was another shot back to Juli Inkster, who shot a 68.

Lofland, 24, a second-year tour member, got her first career victory at Las Vegas five weeks ago. She also came within one shot of making a playoff two weeks ago at Nashville.

First-round leader George Archer survived windy conditions to shoot an even-par 72 and maintain the top spot at the Murata Reunion Pro-Am at Frisco, Tex.

Winds gusting to 25 m.p.h. toughened the 6,737-yard Stonebriar Country Club course as no one broke 70.

“If we were sailing today, we’d have loved the wind, but we weren’t sailing and it made it tough,” said Archer, who shot a 66 Friday and has a two-day total of six-under 138.

Archer has a one-shot lead over Dale Douglass, who shot a 71. J.C. Snead and Don Davis are at 141, three shots off the lead.

Dan January was five under and in contention for the lead until the 18th hole, where he took a triple-bogey seven, falling to 142, four shots off the lead.