LOS ANGELES, Jan 22 — PGA Tour rookie Jhonattan Vegas looked like a seasoned campaigner as he stayed at the top of the leaderboard in the third round of the Bob Hope Classic at La Quinta, California today.

The happy-go-lucky, 26-year-old from Venezuela fired a flawless five-under-par 67 at the SilverRock Resort, which is rated the most difficult of the four venues hosting the five-round pro-am celebrity event.

Despite missing a four-foot birdie putt at the last, the straight-hitting Vegas ended another sun-splashed day in the Coachella Valley level with American Gary Woodland at 18-under 198.

Power hitter Woodland birdied five holes in a row on his outward nine before carding a sparkling eight-under 64 on the Nicklaus Private course at PGA West.

Australian left-hander Greg Chalmers returned a 65 at La Quinta Country Club to finish at 17 under, one stroke better than Britain's Martin Laird, who shot a 64 on the Palmer Private course.

Vegas, a graduate from the 2010 Nationwide Tour who is making only his fifth start on the PGA Tour, had no problems sleeping on a share of the second-round lead overnight.

"If it's something that I do well, it's sleep," he told reporters with a laugh after recording two birdies in his last six holes at SilverRock. "And leading a golf tournament is not going to cut into my sleep.

"It's always fun. You always feel excited about leading a tournament, especially a PGA Tour event for the first time. I'm just having a good time, enjoying it and just having fun."

Joint pacesetter overnight with American Boo Weekley, Vegas had just one regret after staying in a tie for the lead.

 "It was a great round today, I just wish I would have made a few more putts," said the Venezuelan, who moved to the U.S. in 2002 before playing at the University of Texas. "It was probably the best ball-striking round out of all three.

"I hit it to about 15 feet a bunch of times, and just wasn't able to make them (putts) as many times as I wanted."

Vegas, who cruised to a six-shot victory over Andres Romero at last year's Argentine Open, felt his experience of handling leads on the Nationwide Tour would help him over the weekend.

"I'm just going to keep doing what I've been doing, have fun," he added. "I'm just going to keep trying my best and hopefully with the best results."

Woodland, bidding for his first PGA Tour victory, was delighted with his sizzling start in ideal scoring conditions.

"The weather's perfect ... and I hit it well all day," the 26-year-old said after hitting 17 of 18 greens in regulation. "I got the ball below the hole and made some putts.

"I had a bunch of opportunities for birdies, I didn't make everything but I made nine of them, so that was good enough."

Weekley slipped down the leaderboard after carding a level-par 72 at SilverRock for a 13-under total, one stroke better than former world number one David Duval who returned a 69 on the Nicklaus layout. — Reuters

MELBOURNE, Jan 22 — Fourth seed Robin Soderling eased effortlessly into the last 16 of the Australian Open with a methodical 6-3 6-1 6-4 trouncing of Czech qualifier January Hernych today.

The Swede racked up 33 winners in the bright sunshine on the Hisense Arena, and it was only repairs to a dead spot discovered on the court at the start of the third set that extended the contest to nearly two hours.

The oldest man left in the tournament, 31-year-old Hernych was playing in the third round of a grand slam for the first time in 19 attempts.

The world number 241 showed some pride with a gallant rearguard action in the third set but Soderling rarely needed to move out of first gear to keep intact his unbeaten record in 2011. — Reuters