GOLF ROUNDUP : Kite Takes Two-Shot Lead Over Bunched Field in Texas

Tom Kite shot a second consecutive 66 Saturday and moved into a two-stroke lead after three rounds of the Byron Nelson Classic.

That lead, said Kite, means absolutely nothing.

“All it does is give you a name to put in the newspapers as the third-round leader,” said Kite, who had a 54-hole total of 200.

“There are, what? Twenty-three guys within five shots? This lead is nothing. It’s a crapshoot tomorrow. Who knows what will happen?”

Second-round leader Nick Price encountered difficulties with short putts and could do no better than match par 70 at Irving, Tex.

He dropped into a five-way tie for second at 202 with Phil Blackmar, Mike Sullivan, Bruce Lietzke and Stan Utley.

Sullivan and Blackmar had 66s. Lietzke, using a 50-inch putter, shot 68, and Utley birdied the last hole for a 69.

They were followed by Ray Floyd, Hal Sutton, Howard Twitty and Corey Pavin at 203, making a total of nine players within three strokes of the leader.

Tom Watson continued his erratic play with a 70 to fall four strokes off the pace at 204. In three rounds, he has 15 birdies and two eagles and is six under par.

Gary Player had four birdies and an eagle for a four-under-par 68, giving him a one-shot lead after two rounds of the Las Vegas Senior Classic at the Desert Inn Hotel and Country Club.

Player, at seven-under 137, is one ahead of Bob Charles (67), Chi Chi Rodriguez (68) and Bruce Crampton (71). Gene Littler and Walter Zembriski are at 139.

Nancy Lopez, who tied the course record in the first round, clung to a one-shot lead after two rounds of the Sara Lee Classic at Nashville, Tenn.

Lopez followed her 65 with a 70 and was a stroke ahead of Sherri Steinhauer over the par-72, 6,242-yard Hermitage Golf Course.

Lopez is at nine-under 135, just ahead of Steinhauer, who shot her second 68. Steinhauer has never won an LPGA tournament.