A Daring Stankowski Trails Lowery by Stroke

Shortly after Paul Stankowski moved into the lead in the Kemper Insurance Open at Potomac, Md., he moved behind a tree.

Stankowski, who had birdied the two previous holes to go 11 under par, hooked his tee shot behind a tree at the par-four 15th.

“My caddie and I talked about [how to play the shot],” Stankowski said. “He thought the play was to lay up. I thought the play was to lay up. I said, OK, either way I would have used the same club. I got over it and I got back in my stance a little bit, and he’s like, ‘Oh, gosh, he’s going to go for it.’ ”

Stankowski’s nine-iron shot hit the tree and dropped into the rough. The next shot landed in a bunker. The hole mercifully ended with a double bogey, knocking him off the top of the leader board.

But he redeemed himself somewhat at the par-three 17th with the best shot of the day, a seven-iron that landed inches from the pin. Stankowski finished with a three-under 68 for a 10-under 203 total, one shot behind leader Steve Lowery.

Lowery had an eventful back nine, with two tough saves for par in a round of 70 and an 11-under 202 total. He was one of many on top of a leader board that shifted with nearly every hole over the last two hours of the day. Franklin Langham (66) was tied with Stankowski for second, with Tom Scherrer (69) and Justin Leonard two strokes off the lead.

Leonard, Lowery’s playing partner in the last grouping, managed a par 71 in front of a poorly behaved gallery.

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South Korea’s Grace Park shot a two-under 70 to maintain a one-stroke lead after the third round of the Kathy Ireland Greens.com Classic at Murrells Inlet, S.C.

Park, the 21-year-old former Arizona State star in her first season on the LPGA tour, had a 12-under 204 total on Wachesaw Plantation’s East course.

Juli Inkster and Pat Hurst, each seeking their second victory of the season, shot 68s to share second place at 205.

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Gary Player shot a three-under-par 69 to grab a share of the lead with three others in the BellSouth Senior Classic at Nashville.

Player, who is suffering from Lyme disease, is at 11-under 133 along with Hale Irwin, Vicente Fernandez and Tom Kite, who turned in a 63 on a day when soft greens allowed everyone to attack the pin.