Island Packet Verizon Heritage 2008 Coverage | Harbour Town, Sea Pines Resort, Hilton Head Island, SC

Boo Weekley is a self-proclaimed "redneck" from the backwoods who would rather be in a tree stand or on a bass boat than on a golf course. Anthony Kim was born to Korean immigrants and developed an insatiable appetite for golf at an early age.

Weekley wears camouflage to blend in. Kim wears a shiny belt buckle to stand out.

And yet they've somehow forged a friendship.

"Boo and I have become pretty good friends," said Kim, who at 12-under par is three shots off Weekley's lead heading into the final round of the Verizon Heritage. "Every time he opens his mouth, I start laughing. The guy's full of jokes. He's a positive guy, so it's nice to be around him."

He'll get plenty of face time Sunday, when the seemingly odd couple will make up the final pairing at Harbour Town Golf Links. And the defending champ and the brash youngster seem to have the best shot at donning tartan by the end of the day.

Aaron Baddeley, Jason Bohn and Cliff Kresge are tied for third at 10 under, and Jim Furyk is sixth at 9 under. Lucas Glover, the 36-hole leader, is 8 under and tied for seventh with two-time Heritage champ Stewart Cink.

If the winner does come from the final group, the Heritage will have either its first back-to-back champion since Davis Love III in 1992 or its youngest champion -- Kim is 22; Love was 23 when he won the first of his five tartan jackets in 1987.

It's hard saying what the final two will do, though. Kim said he hasn't been in the final group at a tournament since the 2003 Northeast Amateur, which he won in a five-hole playoff, and Weekley has never held even a share of the third-round lead on the PGA Tour (he started last year's final round in fourth place).

"I don't know (how I'll react)," Weekley said. "I ain't never had it before. ... I'll probably be a little nervous. If you ask everybody having the lead going into the last day, they are a little bit jittery. But whatever happens, happens."

Either of the top contenders could say he has history on his side. The past three Heritage champs have been first-time PGA Tour winners, a streak that favors Kim. But only twice in the tournament's previous 39 years has the defending champ taken the lead into the final round ... and both went on to win. Payne Stewart did it in 1990, and Love did it two years later. They are the only back-to-back champs in Heritage history.

Weekley isn't ready to think about how a second Heritage victory would compare to his first, though.

"I ain't got there yet," he said. "Ask me that question tomorrow."

If he keeps playing the way he has in seven rounds at Harbour Town, it's bound to come up. Weekley has carded rounds in the 60s every time he has teed it up in the Heritage, and he shows no sign of letting up.

He took control Saturday with a string of five consecutive birdies on the front nine, a streak that started the way his 2007 Heritage ended -- with a chip-in. But unlike the par-saving chips at Nos. 17 and 18 a year ago, this one was for birdie from behind the green at the par-3 fourth hole.

"I actually saw what I thought was the perfect spot, if I landed that ball right there, I thought it had a real good chance," Weekley said. "And it landed right there dead on that spot and rolled in."

Weekley went wild from there. He made a two-putt birdie at the par-5 fifth, then found his putting stroke. He rolled in a 7-footer at the par-4 sixth, a 10-footer at the par-3 seventh and a 20-foot bomb at the par-4 eighth to get himself two shots clear of Glover and Kim.

"I got on a stretch on the front side where I got to feeling pretty good how I was putting the ball," Weekley said. "I just got feeling solid over the ball, and I stayed within myself. This whole week I have."

After last year's victory, Weekley said he didn't do much the night before the final round, just "ate about a handful of jellybeans and called it quits." He didn't have any big plans for Saturday, either.

"It ain't going to be no different," he said. "I mean, I'll probably watch TV, get something to eat, hang out, you know. I ain't got no routine, if you ain't noticed that.

"Just golf."