Golf: Spencer Levin leads Rory Sabbatini by one at Memorial Spencer Levin's last try at closing out a 54-hole lead brought only heartbreak and an inglorious spot in the PGA Tour's record book - plus a recurring loop still fresh enough to take a regular turn in his mental playlist. "I go sometimes 15, 20 minutes without thinking about it," Levin said this week when asked about the six-stroke advantage that vanished four months ago in Phoenix. He may or may not have been joking. Now the California pro gets a chance to record a new ending. Though he leads by the slimmest of margins at the Memorial Tournament, he'll happily take the challenge. "This is what I've dreamed of, to be in the lead of a tournament," Levin said after two holeouts in Saturday's three-under-par 69 left him one shot ahead of Rory Sabbatini. I'm just really fired up about it, I am. Levin chipped in for eagle at Muirfield Village's fifth hole, then did it again for birdie five holes later on the way to matching the best round in Saturday's wind-whipped conditions. He even watched a par attempt swirl around the hole and fall after he started to turn his back in disgust. They were the kind of breaks Tiger Woods couldn't seem to summon, staggering down the stretch of a 73 that left him four shots off the pace. His back nine featured four bogeys. "Probably the highest score I could have shot today, considering the way I hit it," said Woods, still battling a flu bug that left him looking sapped from the moment he set foot on Muirfield Village's property. Levin's early-round magic helped him to a four-shot lead just after the turn, before a pair of bogeys down the stretch. He completed three rounds in eight-under 208, staying a step ahead of Sabbatini (71). Rickie Fowler, whose first PGA Tour win came four weeks ago in Charlotte, was three shots back after a 69 that nudged him in front of Woods, who will be his playing partner Sunday. "It's not easy to go low," Fowler said of constant winds that gusted as high as 32 mph. Someone that's in the lead is going to have a tough time pulling away. I wouldn't say five or six is too far back. Six was the cushion Levin dealt with in February, only to stumble to a Sunday 75 at TPC Scottsdale that allowed Kyle Stanley to pass him down the stretch. It matched the largest 54-hole lead anyone has squandered in PGA Tour history. What did Levin glean from the experience? "I don't know yet," he said. I did learn that I've still got to play golf. I've still got to eat the same stuff, still have the same friends, still have the same family. Nothing really changed in my life, and I don't think anything will change that big in my life if I do win. It's just going out there and try to do my best. Levin's radar was finely calibrated Saturday, starting with a 33-foot birdie putt at No. He was slightly closer when he chipped in from behind the fifth green, then holed out from 30 yards in front of the green at No. Even some of his mis-hits turned good. Levin scowled after striking a nine-foot par putt at No. 8, walking toward where he expected to mark the ball. Instead, it circumnavigated the rim and dropped into the cup. "I thought I pulled it really bad," Levin said. I got lucky in the fact that I misread it.