Cink stays ahead with late birdies

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Stewart Cink held a two-shot lead over Heath Slocum after the third round of the Travelers Championship in Cromwell, Connecticut on Saturday.

Cink, the overnight leader, fired a five-under-par round of 65 to head into the final round on 15-under overall.

The American bogeyed the 16th, after driving into the water off the tee, but recovered to birdie the final two holes and gain the advantage over Slocum who bogeyed twice on the opening nine in his six-under 64.

There were five players on 12 under, three shots behind Cink, Kevin Streelman, who shot a fine 62, Fijian Vijay Singh, Tommy Armour III, Kenny Perry and Hunter Mahan.

D.J Trahan and Chad Campbell also produced excellent eight-under 62s to sit four strokes off the lead.

Cink was pleased with another consistent round.

"I drove it pretty well most of the day -- I just kind of hit it where I was looking a lot of times," he told reporters.

"Then the shot on 16, I hit it in the water which was sort of a shock because I hadn't really made mistakes all day, then to suddenly do that.

"But then to finish off with a couple birdies, I felt like it gained some momentum back and put myself back in a good mindset for tomorrow," he added.

The field behind Cink remains tight with just four strokes separating the top 14 players but he believes a round of five-under on Sunday could be enough to win.

"I think if I could get to 20-under tomorrow I will have given myself a really good chance to win. So it would be great to get to 20 and finish there," Cink said.

(Reporting by Simon Evans; Editing by Ed Osmond)