NEW ORLEANS, April 27, 2013 (AFP) - Glover stood atop an all-American leaderboard on 14-under par 202 after 54 holes with Kyle Stanley, Jimmy Walker, Billy Horschel and D.A. Points on 204 and Kevin Stadler another stroke off the pace.
"My speed was a little off today," Glover said. "I left a bunch of 8- and 10-footers short. I just didn't have the speed right."
Early starters fired low scores before afternoon winds began swirling, with Stanley shooting 65 and Walker and Horschel firing 66s while Glover played a roller-coaster round that included five birdies and three bogeys.
"The wind picked up more than was forecast," Glover said. "It was good to see some good scores up there early."
Glover, whose wife is expecting a baby in the next few days, birdied the par-5 second and answered a bogey at the fifth with birdies on the par-5 seventh and par-4 eighth.
On the back nine, Glover made bogeys on the par-3 14th and 17th holes but birdied the par-5 11th and 18th to stay on top.
"I knew there were some birdies there," Glover said. "I just didn't take advantage as much as I should have."
Sweden's Henrik Norlander fired a 65 to stand on 206 in a group that included Americans Ricky Barnes, Ken Looper and Boo Weekley.
Chinese schoolboy Guan Tianlang, who became the youngest starter in Masters history earlier this month at age 14, struggled to a 77 on Saturday to stand on 218, last among the 71 who made the cut.
Guan made three birdies but also had five bogeys and a triple bogey.
"Today was not that good, but it's still a great experience," Guan said. "I didn't have a good start and I tried to start back in the middle and made a couple birdies, but it was not a very good round."
Guan plans to take a chance on qualifying for the year's next major event, June's US Open at Merion.
"I'm probably going to try the US Open qualifier and then go back to China after that," he said.
Leading scores on Saturday after the third round of the $6.6 million US PGA Zurich Classic of New Orleans (USA unless noted, par-72):
202 - Lucas Glover 65-67-70
204 - Kyle Stanley 72-67-65, Jimmy Walker 67-71-66, Billy Horschel 67-71-66, D.A. Points 66-68-70
205 - Kevin Stadler 68-72-65
206 - Henrik Norlander (SWE) 71-70-65, Ricky Barnes 64-76-66, Ken Looper 73-66-67, Boo Weekley 65-68-73
207 - Ken Duke 70-69-68, Harris English 68-70-69, Nick Watney 69-69-69, Luke Guthrie 67-71-69, Bobby Gates 67-70-70, Justin Rose (ENG) 68-69-70
208 - Rod Pampling (AUS) 71-70-67, Jason Dufner 70-71-67, Lee D.H. (KOR) 70-70-68, Peter Tomasulo 73-67-68, David Hearn (CAN) 71-69-68, Richard Lee 70-69-69, Stephen Ames (CAN) 67-72-69, Chris Kirk 67-72-69, John Peterson 71-67-70, Nicolas Colsaerts (BEL) 70-68-70, Jerry Kelly 70-67-71, Ernie Els (RSA) 67-69-72, Morgan Hoffmann 66-69-73