• Bob Hope Classic, 3rd round

Rookie Prugh takes the lead after rain-delayed start

ESPN staff
January 24, 2010
Alex Prugh © Getty Images
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US PGA Tour rookie Alex Prugh took the lead after shooting an impressive seven-under-par 65 to go one stroke clear after the third round of the Bob Hope Classic at La Quinta.

After a delayed start due to the weather, Prugh's birdie on the 17th handed him the advantage to top the leaderboard with a accumulated 21-under total of 195 to lead fellow Americans Bubba Watson and Martin Flores by one.

Playing in just his third Tour event, Prugh was pleased with his round, but insisted he was not getting carried away.

"Obviously, I haven't had any emotions yet," he said. "I think this tournament is such where everything's so spread out, you have four different courses, you're playing with amateurs, it's kind of hard to get yourself caught up in everything. I'm just playing golf.

"I'm just trying to entertain my amateur partners as well as I can, and hopefully they get their money's worth when they're out here. But honestly today was a really boring round. I was almost bored with myself a little bit.

Friday's overnight leader Bubba Watson dropped off the pace with a slow start, but four birdies on the back nine helped him stay within touching distance of leader Prugh. "My play was not very good," Watson said. "The 68 was getting a lot out of my round today. I wanted to play better. Probably I should have been 71 or 72."

"We got 36 holes left. My expectations are, hopefully, I can make the cut tomorrow and I'll be able to play the last day.The key is just making putts. In this golf tournament you know you got to make putts because everybody is going to hit good shots."

Britain's Justin Rose shot a third-round 69 to go three under par.

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