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Hole-in-one puts Kelly on top

15/04/2007

Jerry Kelly grabbed a hole-in-one to claim a one-shot lead in the Verizon Heritage tournament in South Carolina ahead of overnight leader Ernie Els and Kevin Na.

Having birdied the par five second hole Kelly dropped a shot at the next hole before firing in his hole-in-one from the fourth tee. The ball bounced once, hit the pin and dropped in the hole.

This gave Kelly some momentum and he went on to birdie three of the next five holes. But two dropped shots on the back nine curtailed him to a round of 67 but could not stop him claiming the overall lead on 13-under after three rounds.

Els is still in contention after carding an even-par round which began with a double-bogey at the first and his chances of victory also took a hit when he bogeyed the 16th and 17th holes before salvaging the round with a birdie on the 18th green.

He said: "I feel a little disappointed about the round. I just didn't quite play the way I wanted to. Thank goodness I didn't shoot myself totally out of it but it was a tough day."

Na moved up from fifth place to share second with Els after a round of five-under on day three. The American made seven birdies and two bogeys to help him rise up the leaderboard.

Masters champion Zach Johnson closed on the leaders having also carded a five-under 66. He is now four shots behind Kelly in a tie for fifth place.

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