Hnatuik preserves St. Jude Classic lead

MEMPHIS, Tenn. -- Glen Hnatiuk proved he can protect a lead Saturday, shooting a third consecutive 6-under-par 65 that kept him atop the leaderboard with a four-stroke margin after three rounds of the St. Jude Classic.

Hnatiuk had never led a PGA tournament before this week, but he put himself in position to win his first title wire-to-wire with an eight-birdie, two-bogey round that gave him an 18-under 195 total.

Notah Begay, enjoying his best tournament since a back injury essentially wiped out his 2001 season, shot a 68 and was tied at 14 under with Tim Petrovic (66) and Matt Kuchar (67). Pat Bates (69) was five strokes back.

David Toms (65), Tripp Isenhour (64) and Neal Lancaster (64) were tied at 12-under 201.

SENIOR PGA: Don Pooley made a twisting, 18-foot putt for par to cap a record-setting round of 8-under-par 63 that thrust him into the lead after three rounds of the U.S Senior Open at Owings Mills, Md.

Pooley made an amazing nine birdies at the difficult 7,005-yard Caves Valley Golf Club. He set a tournament record for low score over 18 holes and finished the day at 9-under 204, three shots ahead of Tom Watson and second-round leader Walter Hall.

Watson shot a 69, and Hall bogeyed the final two holes for a 72.

Ed Dougherty made five birdies en route to a 68 that left him four shots back, and Tom Kite was at 209 after a wild 73 that included five bogeys and a double bogey.

LPGA: Juli Inkster birdied five of the last six holes after a blowup on the 13th tee and took a one-shot lead heading into the final round of the ShopRite LPGA Classic at Galloway Township, N.J.

First-round leader Kate Golden was in second place after a disastrous double bogey on No. 17, and Annika Sorenstam was again threatening after a second-round 67 left her three shots off the lead in this final tuneup for next week's U.S. Women's Open.

Pat Hurst was in third place at 8 under, and Sorenstam was in a group at 7 under with Jenny Lidback and Lorie Kane.

PGA EUROPE: Denmark's Thomas Bjorn and Sweden's Niklas Fasth each tied the course record with an 8-under-par 63 and shared the lead with Soren Hansen after three rounds of the Irish Open at Cork, Ireland.

Hansen, also of Denmark, shot a 64 on the Fota Island course and was at 11-under 202 with Bjorn and Fasth. The trio took advantage of ideal scoring conditions before a stiff breeze made things difficult for late starters.

Britian's Richard Bland also shot a 63 and shared fourth place, one shot back, with South Africa's Darren Fichardt (64), Germany's Alex Cejka and Argentina's Eduardo Romero.

Defending champion Colin Montgomerie struggled in the windy conditions and shot a 3-over 74 for a 208 total, six shots off the lead.

-- From wire reports