Eagle Helps Sutton Take 3-Shot Lead in Memorial

Hal Sutton used an eagle-birdie-birdie burst to establish a three-stroke lead Saturday after three rounds in Jack Nicklaus’ Memorial Tournament at Dublin, Ohio.

Nine men led or shared the lead, and there was a seven-way tie for the top shortly before Sutton’s late-round heroics enabled him to put some distance between himself and the rest of the pack--including the struggling host, who fell five shots back.

“It looked like nobody wanted to break out of the pack,” Sutton said after his six-under-par 66. “I’d been playing well all day and I felt it was fixing to happen at any minute,” the former PGA champion said. “I kept thinking it was going to happen, and it finally did.”

It started with a 25-foot downhill, wide-breaking eagle putt on the 15th hole and was followed by birdies on the next two holes.

He salvaged par from a fairway bunker on the 18th and got in with a 203 total, a record-setting 13 under par for three rounds over the Muirfield Village Golf Club course.

Don Halldorson, Don Pooley and Doug Tewell, all of whom shared the second-round lead with Nicklaus, shared second at 206. Each had a third-round 70.

Nicklaus, who found his oversized putter more a foe than a friend, once three-putted and had very little success on the greens. The tournament founder--and obvious hero of the partisan galleries--could do no better than a round of par 72 that left him at 208.

Beth Daniel overcame a double bogey on the 13th hole with three consecutive birdies to shoot a 70 for a three-round total of 207 and a two-stroke lead in the $250,000 Corning tournament at Corning, N.Y.

Pat Bradley, who was tied briefly with Daniel after the 13th hole, finished with a 69 and is at 209.

Bob Smith, a former U.S. PGA Tour player who gave up the game for two years to try his hand at selling real estate, charged into a share of the lead after two rounds of the $315,000 European PGA Championships at Wentworth, England.

Smith, of Sacramento, had five consecutive birdies on the back nine to roar out of the pack with a three-under-par 69 and grab a share of first place with Britain’s Mark James, New Zealand’s Greg Turner and Ireland’s Ronan Rafferty at 141.

American Lee Elder carded a 71 in strong winds for a 14-under par total of 202 that enabled him to maintain a seven-stroke lead over Miller Barber (71) after three rounds of the $230,000 Coca Cola Grand Slam seniors tournament at Narita, Japan.