| Memphis,
Tennesee. 1st August, 1998 -
Nick Price righted a shaky round with two birdies on the back nine
and Bob Estes came out of the pack with a 4-under-par 67 today to share the lead
in the FedEx St. Jude Classic. Price,
who has topped the leaderboard all three days, shot a 70 to match Estes at 11-under
202 on the TPC at Southwind course. Jeff Sluman (66), Tim Conley (67) and Paul
Azinger (69) are a stroke back. Kevin
Wentworth was alone in sixth place at 9-under. Joe Durant and Glen Day are at
8-under, and Scott Verplank is at 7-under after shooting a 67 today that required
just 19 putts. John
Daly, renowned for his tantrums, had another one today. Daly was 3-under on the
front nine before double-bogeying three holes on the back side. He was disqualified
after failing to sign his scorecard. Price,
looking for his first PGA Tour victory since the MCI Classic in April 1997. battled
an erratic driver on the front nine and made the turn at 1-over par for the day.
He got a break
on No. 10 when his drive hit a tree and ricocheted into the fairway, which, he
said, "sort of turned my day around.'' Price
went on to birdie the par-4 12th and the par-5 16th, which he had eagled the previous
two rounds. "If
we have the same sort of conditions tomorrow there are probably 14 or 15 guys
who could win it,'' Price said of the dry and breezy conditions. "There's
not much wind, but it's enough to put a little doubt in your mind.'' Estes
has five top-10 finishes this year, but hasn't won since 1994. He birdied three
of the last four holes, including the tough par-4 17th, to post his second straight
67. "It's
been too long since I was in the last group on Sunday,'' Estes said. "I'd
rather be there. That means you can make more mistakes than everybody else and
still have a chance to win.'' Azinger,
looking for his first tour victory since a bout with cancer five years ago, is
comfortable where he is. "My
goal has been to get into contention and I am,'' he said. "I don't think
anything's really missing from my game, I just need to pull it off.'' Conley
began the day 6-under and birdied four straight holes on the front side to make
the turn at 10-under, then played the back side in par. Sluman
and Robert Damron had the low rounds of the day with 66s. Damron teed off first
and played by himself, completing his round in 2 hours, 34 minutes to move from
a tie for 64th into 17th place. Sluman
birdied four straight holes on the front side and picked up another stroke on
the back with a 12-foot birdie putt on No. 18. "If
you had told me starting the day I'd shoot 5-under and be this close to the lead,
I'd have been very surprised,'' Sluman said. "All three of the par 5s are
reachable for most of the players.'' Day
started play at 9-under and quickly moved to 11-under and into a share of the
lead with birdies at Nos. 4 and 5, but a double bogey at No. 15 pushed him to
8-under for the tournament. Wentworth,
a left-hander who spent the last two years playing primarily in Asia, jump-started
his round with an ace on the 183-yard fourth hole. His a 6-iron shot landed 8
inches away and hopped into the cup. Divots:
Wentworth's hole-in-one was the second of the tournament. Ted Tryba had one on
Friday, and the 22nd on the tour this season. ... Price, the 1993 St. Jude champion,
is trying to become the first repeat winner of the tournament since Lee Trevino
won his third title in 1980. ... Durant is the only player among the top 48 who
has won a PGA Tour event this year, the Motorola Western Open. | 
