ESPN Golf

MADISON, Miss. -- With caddie Steve Duplantis by his side, David Branshaw is closer to a PGA Tour victory than he's ever been.

David Branshaw shot a 3-under-par 69 Saturday to lead by two strokes after three rounds of the Viking Classic. He has a crowd of 17 golfers within six shots of his 13 under going into the final day, but he feels his confidence growing with his new hire Duplantis carrying his bag.

"I've been relying on him more and more," Branshaw said. "I believe a shot hasn't gone by other than a 1-foot tap-in that I haven't taken his advice on."

Viking Classic Leaderboard

1. Branshaw (-13)
2. Haas (-11)
T-3. Micheel (-10)
T-3. Campbell (-10)
T-3. Wagner (-10)

• Complete scores

In their first pairing last week Branshaw finished tied for 13th at the Turning Stone Resort Championship. And through three rounds at the Annandale Golf Club, he has just one bogey. His best PGA Tour finish came at the B.C. Open last year when he finished tied for fourth.

Duplantis, who has carried the bag in five tournament wins in his career but is known more for his partying ways, thinks Branshaw will keep chugging along Sunday.

"I haven't seen his demeanor change at all," Duplantis said. "I haven't seen any evidence of him being tense."

Bill Haas had a 70 and was two strokes back in second place while Chad Campbell moved into contention with a 64 that left him three strokes behind at 10 under. He was tied with Shaun Micheel and Johnson Wagner, both shooting 68s.

Branshaw, Haas and Wagner are among seven golfers in the top 10 seeking their first PGA Tour victories, while Campbell and Micheel are trying to turn around their games.

Two-time champion Fred Funk led a group of nine that sat four back at 9 under and six others were in contention at 8 under, something Branshaw said he is aware of but trying to ignore.

"You can't control what they're doing out there," Branshaw said. "All you can do is just do the best you can on every shot tomorrow. You can't play defense, you can't be too strong on offense. You can't throw any curveballs like all the other sports. You can't block anybody."

Branshaw took the lead Friday as most players struggled with changing course conditions at Annandale Golf Club, where frequent rain this week gave way to sunny skies and a persistent wind that dried the greens.

He made 11 straight pars Friday, then finished with two birdies for a 68. He opened the Classic with a 66. Branshaw, a 37-year-old golfer from Tampa, Fla., in his third full year on tour, had been bogey-free through 44 holes before making one at No. 9 Saturday. But he had four birdies on par-4 holes and again put together a string of pars, finishing his round with five straight.

Even those chasing Branshaw said they would like to see him do well Sunday.

Haas, the son of longtime PGA and Champions tours veteran Jay Haas, will play in the final pairing with Branshaw despite three bogeys and a missed 9-foot birdie putt at 17 that could have reduced Branshaw's lead. Haas was 1-over on par 5s, usually the strength of his game. He said if he can turn that into 3 under in the final round that might be the difference.

Haas felt good about his position, but said Branshaw will have to falter to be vulnerable.

"David has to hold the lead and if he plays like he did today, he's going to," Haas said. "He's a friend and I'm pulling for him because I like him."

Grinding is a good way to describe Branshaw's career thus far. He turned professional in 1991, but has been on and off the PGA Tour since with stops on the Nationwide Tour and the Canadian Tour as well.

He had never gone to bed with the lead in the PGA Tour going into the weekend before Friday night and said he got a little flustered when the television cameras turned his way as he moved up the leaderboard in the second round.

He seemed destined for qualifying school going into the FedEx Cup break, but finished tied for 13th at the Turning Stone Resort Championship last week and could avoid the annual qualifier altogether with a win.

A lot of that has to do with the presence of Duplantis, who worked for Daniel Chopra until recently being let go "amicably."

"I'm sure I could go back and work for Daniel at any time," he said of Chopra, who is tied for 62nd at 1 over. "There's no tension, just kind of that's how the job is. Everybody's going to get fired some day and we just had a lot of bad tournaments and he wanted to look at somebody different."

Branshaw knew Duplantis from a few rounds of golf they played together in Tampa. He wasn't put off by Duplantis' colorful reputation for having a good time, highlighted in the book "Bud, Sweat and Tees."

"It disappoints me sometimes that that's the only thing that ever gets written," Duplantis said.

But there's no question Duplantis can lift a golfer's game. He's had success with Jim Furyk and Rich Beem most notably and thinks he has a special ability to keeper a golfer functioning on the course whatever his score.

"That's what separates a good caddie from a great caddie," Duplantis said. "Anybody can figure out how far an 8 iron is going to go and keep the clubs clean. It's being able to pick your guy up when he's a little bit down, you know, tone him down when he's a little too up."

Copyright 2007 by The Associated Press