SANTA ANA PUEBLO — On Monday, Mark Sheftic listened to his father.

On Tuesday, Sheftic listened to his caddy.

And today, Sheftic enters the final round as the leader of the 42nd PGA Professional National Championship at Twin Warriors Golf Club.

Sheftic shot a third-round 70 to lead by two strokes at 8 under over Steve Schneiter, Todd Lancaster and Keith Diccaiani. Nine players are within four strokes of the lead.

With a bit of bad luck hovering over him, Sheftic made a key birdie putt on No. 17 after receiving some friendly advice from his caddy, Gary Ament.

"Gary knows me and my game inside out," Sheftic said. "He noticed that I was struggling with the putter and told me to move my hands slightly forward before I made the stroke. So I did that, and made the putt. Everything felt great after that."

Before that, however, there was a problem.

Sheftic's ball got trampled by a golf cart on the par-5 16th.

After a free drop, Sheftic hit his third shot across the green, but recovered for a pitch and two-putt bogey. He recorded three bogeys and four birdies during his round.

On Monday, Sheftic took the advice of his father, Ted, during a lesson a few months ago, and settled for a 68 en route to the lead after the first 36 holes.

Sheftic needed every break to keep his lead.

Lancaster had a chance to catch Sheftic before he three-putted 18.

"It got windy the last five holes," Lancaster said, "and we had to take advantage of the course early. I am going to try and enjoy it tomorrow. I need to keep hitting my target and playing my game and have fun. I was hitting the ball pretty steady the first 15 holes and tried to stay in the game."

Should he hold on today, Sheftic can claim the first-prize purse of $75,000 along with a berth into this year's PGA Championship. The low 20 finishers get an invite to the prestigious tournament.

Last year's champion, Scott Hebert, shot a 71 for a 213, and all but eliminated himself from a repeat after shooting a second-round score of 76. Hebert led the first round after shooting a 66 at Santa Ana Golf Club.