Johnson leads into last round

The putter never quite felt right in Richard Johnson's hands Saturday. He didn't let it bother him.

The Swede shot a steady 2-under 69, giving the PGA Tour rookie a one-stroke lead over David Toms after three rounds of the St. Jude Classic. Johnson planned to spend time at the practice green after needing 29 putts Saturday.

``Oh absolutely, I'm very happy how I performed. I hit the ball very solidly today. Under the amount of pressure I thought I was going to be on, I thought I did a great job. To shoot 2 under and still not putt well feels very well,'' Johnson said.

Johnson, trying to win his first PGA Tour title in just his 14th start, had a 14-under 199 total.

Toms birdied two of his final three holes for a 65. He will be looking for his second victory this year and ninth in his career.

``I feel very comfortable,'' Toms said. ``I needed a low round. There's a lot of guys that's right there, and that's the way it should be when you try to win a tournament. You need to play well on Sunday, and I'm going to have to play extremely well to have a chance.''

Tim Herron (65), Lee Janzen (67), Fredrik Jacobson (68) and David Peoples (70) were two strokes back. Ben Crane (64) was at 202, and Notah Begah (64) and third-round co-leader John Huston (73) were in a group at 203.

``Here it's kind of a shootout, so it's kind of moving day every day here,'' Herron said. ``I know I'm going to have to play really solid tomorrow and make quite a few putts to have a chanced to win.''

Johnson has won before, taking the 2002 ANZ Championship using the Stableford scoring system on the European tour. He tried not to look at the leaderboard but kept catching glimpses. He said that might have contributed to his troubles with the putter 10 feet away from the hole.

``When I looked down at the putter, I just didn't feel like I could get it square. It looked like somebody messed with it last night (but) that wasn't the case,'' Johnson said.

``I'm still striking it really well and just didn't get the putter going today. I had a really bad day on the greens. Hopefully, I'll play the same tomorrow and hopefully putt a little better.''

Johnson, who played the European tour between 2000 and 2002, stayed with Huston through the first five holes at 13 under and fell a stroke back when Huston birdied the par-4 sixth. Johnson turned in his fifth straight par, then grabbed another share of the lead when he birdied the 169-yard eighth after sticking an 8-iron to 3 feet.

Huston fell off the pace when he hurried a par putt from 18 inches on No. 9 past the hole for bogey. Johnson slipped with his first bogey of the tournament on the par-3 11th. He plugged a 7-iron into a bunker at the back of the island green from 175 yards and couldn't get up and down.

But Johnson took back the lead on the par-4 13th as he hit a pitching wedge to 5 feet and birdied to reach 14 under. Nobody caught him down the stretch as he parred out the final five holes.

Toms may be the person best suited to chase Johnson on Sunday. He won at Wachovia in May and tied for fifth in the U.S. Open two weeks ago, and he has a big gallery because his swing teacher Rob Akins is from Memphis where Toms has plenty of friends.

``Outside the state of Louisiana, this is kind of home away from home for me,'' Toms said.

He started the round at 7 under but birdied four of his first five holes. He had 10 straight pars before he birdied the par-5, 528-yard 16th and the par-4 17th. On No. 17, Toms hit a pitching wedge 145 yards from the rough to inches of the hole. Divots:@ For Begay, his 64 was his best round yet at this course where he won in 2000. His previous low round here had been a 65 last year. ... The toughest hole Saturday was the par-3, 231-yard 14th with just nine birdies and 25 bogeys, including bogeys by Peoples and Jay Haas when both were just two strokes off the lead. Both splashed their tee shots in the water just short of the green. ... Jacobson had one of the best recoveries for par. On the par-5 third, he hit his third shot out of a bunker and across the green into the water. He took a drop, then chipped in from off the green for par. ... The tournament is sponsored by FedEx.

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