GOLF ROUNDUP : Norman Leads Memorial by One Stroke

Greg Norman hit a wedge shot to within four feet of the 14th hole, made his birdie putt for a one-shot advantage on the field, then picked up his ball along with most of the other leaders as darkness settled over the Memorial tournament on Saturday at Dublin, Ohio.

Nine others were within two shots of the top spot in the third round of the tournament, which was held up for 4 hours 50 minutes because of thunderstorms. The final group teed off at 6:10 p.m. and 22 players were still on the course when darkness fell.

They will complete the third round before playing the fourth today.

For all the inconvenience of the storm, it has made the Muirfield Village Golf Club course an easy mark.

“The golf course is just sitting there, kind of defenseless,” said David Duval, who was tied with Robert Gamez, David Frost and Ben Crenshaw at 11 under par, one stroke behind Norman.

Duval shot an eight-under-par 64 and is at 205 after 54 holes.

Completion of the third round this morning is unlikely to sort out the tangle at the top of the leader board, Norman said.

“I think it’s going to be a bunched-up tournament,” said Norman, who returned this week after a six-week break. “There’s no shotmaking involved out there. You can tee it up. The greens are soft. There’s going to be a lot of low-scoring golf.”

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Graham Marsh, an Australian looking for his first victory in the United States since 1977, tied a Bruno’s Memorial Classic record with a nine-under-par 63 to take a five-shot lead in the Senior PGA Tour event.

Marsh had nine birdies and nine pars and has a two-round total of 13-under-par 131. His five-shot lead over Tom Weiskopf and Bruce Summerhays is the largest on the senior tour this year heading into the final day.

First-round leader Dave Stockton, who was going for his second consecutive senior victory, slumped to a 74 on Saturday and wound up nine shots off the lead with a four-under-par 140.

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Dale Eggeling, playing in a steady rain in East Lansing, Mich., had her worst round of the tournament, a one-under-par 71, but managed to keep the lead in the LPGA Oldsmobile Classic for the third consecutive day.

Eggeling moved to a 13-under-par 203 for the tournament, two strokes ahead of Joan Pitcock. Five players, including 1993 tournament champion Jane Geddes, trailed Eggeling by four strokes.

After a birdie on the opening hole, Eggeling bogeyed the next two. She regained her composure, however, and birdied two of the next six holes. She played a relatively uneventful back nine with a birdie and a bogey.

Pitcock, who has never won an LPGA event, shot a two-under-par 70 to move to 11 under.

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Kris Cox and Alan Bratton birdied the playoff hole as Oklahoma State, playing shorthanded, beat Stanford in the first team playoff for the NCAA men’s championship in 98 years.

Playing over the Ohio State University course in Columbus, the Cowboys had started the day three strokes behind co-leaders Stanford and Texas, but got into the final round with a two-under-par 286 as all five players shot between 74 and 70.

The best four scores are counted, and Oklahoma State was under pressure in the playoff because No. 5 man Leif Westerberg had to leave to catch a flight to Europe to play in the British Amateur.

Instead of folding under pressure, Cox and Bratton made their putts, and Stanford’s Tiger Woods and Notah Begay III missed birdie putts from 22 and eight feet, respectively, on the playoff hole.

Auburn’s Chip Spratlin shot a final-round 75, but won medalist honors with a 283 score. Arizona’s Ted Purdy and Oklahoma State’s Cris Tidland were a shot behind.

Woods, the reigning U.S. Amateur champion, shot a 71 to complete four rounds at two-under-par 286.