Sutton Drops to 4-Way Tie as Frost Cools

David Frost cooled way off and Hal Sutton stumbled down the stretch Saturday and the result was a four-way tie for the lead after three rounds of the St. Jude Classic at Memphis, Tenn.

Frost, who tied a PGA Tour and St. Jude record by shooting a 16-under-par 126 for a four-stroke lead after two rounds, ballooned to a three-over 74 that left him one shot off the lead.

Sutton, Frost’s playing partner, bogeyed three of the final five holes to end up at 69. He’s tied atop the leaderboard at 14 under with Tom Lehman, Ted Tryba and Tim Herron.

“I’ll have to regroup,” said Sutton, who was at 198 for the tournament. “I’m not happy with the way I finished. Any time you’re three over on the last [five] holes, that’s not very pleasant to have to deal with. A couple of those, I hit good shots.”

Frost, who had 16 birdies and no bogeys the first two rounds, was the only player in the 77-man field without a birdie on Saturday. He pushed many of his tee shots to the right, but said he would stick with a new swing he adopted this week.

“I hit a lot of good shots. I’m not disappointed,” said Frost, who went straight to the practice tee after his round. “I couldn’t buy a putt today. I was tentative on the putts.”

Kevin Sutherland and Omar Uresti were tied with Frost at 13 under. Kevin Wentworth, whose 63 was the low round of the day, was among four players at 12 under.

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Unlike defending champion Rosie Jones, Karrie Webb of Australia doesn’t feel any extra pressure taking a two-stroke lead into the final round of the LPGA Rochester International at Rochester, N.Y.

“It doesn’t bother me either way,” said Webb, who shot a four-under 68 that was highlighted by a 50-foot chip-in.

Jones delivered her own heroics, bouncing in from the edge of the rough from 127 yards for an eagle on the par-four 10th.

“It was just the kicker that I really needed,” said Jones, who had a 68 to join Nancy Scranton and Leigh Ann Mills in a tie for second.

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Bruce Fleisher shot out of the pack with a nine-under 63 to tie David Lundstrom for the lead after two rounds of the BellSouth Senior Classic at Nashville. . . . Catrin Nilsmark of Sweden shot a 68 to beat Laura Davies of England by two strokes in the $1.1-million Evian Masters tournament at Evian, France, the richest women’s tournament ever played in Europe. . . . Casey Martin, who rides a golf cart because of a painful circulatory disorder in his right leg, shot a five-under 67 and held a one-stroke lead after three rounds of the Nike Cleveland Open at Painesville, Ohio.

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In Front

Leaders through Saturday’s play:

ST. JUDE CLASSIC--Par 71

Tim Herron 67-66-66--199 -14

Ted Tryba 68-64-67--199 -14

Tom Lehman 63-68-68--199 -14

Hal Sutton 63-67-69--199 -14

LPGA AT ROCHESTER--Par 72

Karrie Webb 75-67-68--210 -6

Nancy Scranton 75-71-66--212 -4

Rosie Jones 75-69-68--212 -4

Leigh Ann Mills 70-71-71--212 -4

BELLSOUTH SENIOR--Par 72

Bruce Fleisher 71-63--134 -10

David Lundstrom 66-68--134 -10

Complete results, Page 14