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Three tied for lead at 54 hole mark

Duffy Waldorf, playing the Bob Hope Classic just to tune up his game, shot an 8-under-par 64 on Friday to grab a share of the third-round lead.

Disappointed after he failed to make the cut last week in Hawaii, Waldorf considered skipping the Hope, but eventually decided that he needed to play.

``I really came here kind of just to work on my game,'' said Waldorf, tied with Kirk Triplett and Deane Pappas at 19-under 197 through the first three rounds of the 90-hole event.

``I struggled a bit in Hawaii and hadn't played much before that, so I wanted to get in some really good golf,'' Waldorf said after a bogey-free round that included eight birdies.

He still didn't decide until late last Friday to enter the Hope.

``I was hanging out in Hawaii, thinking about going to the beach, but I just wasn't happy with the way I had played,'' he said. ``I thought, `Well, I don't really want to play Palm Springs, but ...'

``My kids aren't happy about it, but maybe they will be by the end of the week.''

Waldorf, who has won four PGA Tour events, described his third round as ``eight birdies and 10 holes of survival,'' and still has just one bogey through 54 holes. He found that rather amazing.

Asked when he last had one bogey in 54 holes, he grinned and said, ``Well, without digging too deep in my memory bank, I'd say never.''

Pappas, a South African who is a former roommate of John Daly at the University of Arkansas, shot a third-round 63. Triplett, whose Nissan Open victory two years ago is the only win of his 12 years on the tour, had a 64.

Second-round leader John Senden had a 69, which left him one shot behind the leaders. Also at 198 were last week's winner in Hawaii, Jerry Kelly (65), Cameron Beckman (64), and Brandel Chamblee.

Chamblee, who shared the first-round lead with Jay Haas at 63, bogeyed No. 17 during the third round to drop back to 16 under. But it could have been much worse.

His 9-iron off the tee hit a wall of rocks on the left side of the green and the ball ricocheted farther away from the hole, stopping when it nestled against the root of a tree.

``I had a root right on the ball, a tree limb hanging down in front of me, and the water was there. There were a lot of issues,'' Chamblee said.

So he intentionally banked his next shot off the boulder and the ball went onto the green and rolled to the fringe. He chipped up close from there and made the short putt.

``There was a lot of stress on 17,'' he said.

Haas was 17 under after a 68.

Daly and Phil Mickelson, making their first starts of the year, were at 15under. Daly shot a 65 and Mickelson had a 70.

Divots

The Hope is sponsored by Chrysler. ... The winners the past two years aren't faring so well this year. Joe Durant, who set a PGA Tour record for a five-day event when he won at 36 under last year, was at 10 under. Jesper Parnevik, who won at 29 under in 2000 but withdrew last year to be with his wife for the birth of their fourth child, also was at 10 under. ... When Arnold Palmer won the inaugural Hope in 1960, he earned $12,000 of the $70,000 purse. For the second of his five wins in the event, in 1962, the total purse was reduced to $35,000 and he got $5,300. His victory in 1968 was worth $20,000, in 1971 worth $28,000. He went away with $32,000 for his win in 1973, giving him a total of $97,300 for the five wins. The champion this year receives $720,000 ofa $4 million purse.

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