| Memphis,
Tennesee. 31st July, 1998 -
Neal Lancaster shot a 6-under-par 65 today to catch Nick Price at 10-under for
a share of the second-day lead in the FedEx St. Jude Classic. Price
backed up his opening-round 65 with a 67, while Lancaster played the front nine
in 5-under par, including three straight birdies. The
big mover of the round was Glen Day, who eagled both par-5s on the front side
and shot a 64, the low round of the tournament. Day was alone in third at 9-under,
a stroke behind the leaders. Paul
Azinger began the day sharing the lead with Price and Russ Cochran. Azinger shot
a 69 today, leaving him at 8-under par with Scott Hoch, who shot 68. Cochran
shot a 70 and was tied with Bob Estes, who shot 67, and Donnie Hammond, who had
a 69, at 7-under. Day
became the 13th player to card two eagles in one round on the PGA Tour this year.
He said a chip from 30 yards short of the green on the 525-yard No. 3 "just
happened to go in.'' Two
holes later, on the 527-yard No. 5, he hit a 2-iron approach from 250 yards "and
just got lucky.'' Day
also had five birdies to offset two bogeys on the 7,006-yard TPC at Southwind
course. Price,
the 1993 St. Jude champion, played another steady round highlighted by an eagle
on No. 16, his second there in two days. "I
think I doubled my eagle score for the year in two days,'' Price said. "Making
back-to-back eagles is in the lap of the gods. That's just a lot of luck.'' It
was the 11th consecutive round of par or better in the FedEx-sponsored St. Jude
for Price, who said his game is returning to the form that made him the world's
preeminent player in 1994, when he won six tournaments. "It's
just a question of how hot the putter gets,'' he said. "Tee to green, my
game is better than it was through that period of '91 through '94. The only thing
lacking right now is confidence. If I can get a win under my belt, I think the
dam wall will break and I'll win a few more.'' Lancaster
bogeyed two of the first four holes and was 1-under after playing the back nine
to start. He caught fire on the front nine with birdies at Nos. 1, 3, 4, 5 and
9. He got a
break on No. 3 when he pulled his short approach shot 30 feet past the hole, then
made the putt almost by accident. "I
was lagging and it went in,'' he said. "It was unbelievable. I could have
stood there and hit 25 balls and never made one, no way.'' After
that, he said, all the putts looked like gimmes. DIVOTS:
Ted Tryba aced the 160-yard eighth hole with a 9-iron, the 21st ace on the PGA
Tour this season. It was the first time No. 8 has been holed out in tournament
play, and the seventh ace in the St. Jude since it moved to Southwind in 1989.
... David Gossett, a 19-year-old amateur from two miles away playing on his home
course, shot a 1-under 70 and was tied with Larry Rinker and Tim Conley at 6-under
136. Gossett is the first amateur to make the cut in the St. Jude since Jim Wittenberg
Jr. in 1982. The last amateur to finish in the top 10 was Deane Beman in 1965,
nine years before he became commissioner of the PGA Tour. ... The cut was at even-par
142, the highest cut line in the St. Jude since it was also even-par in 1993.
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