Love Lets Lead Slip, Huston Forges Tie

No one is hitting the ball as well as Davis Love III in the Byron Nelson Classic. Too bad he had no idea how far it was going Saturday.

With a chance to run away with the tournament at Irving, Texas, Love struggled to hit greens in wind that came from the opposite direction and had to scramble for a one-over-par 71 that gave him a share of the lead with John Huston.

In the process, he brought several other players back into the picture--perhaps even Tiger Woods and David Duval, who are seven shots off the pace and will be paired alone together in the final round for the first time in their careers.

“I think it will be a good race,” said Love, who began the day with a four-shot lead.

Huston had a three-under 67 and had sole possession of the lead at one point, thanks to a shot that defined Love’s round--an eight-iron from 170 yards that went about 190, and left Love lucky to make bogey.

Love came back with a birdie from the bunker on the par-five 16th to get to 10-under 200.

Jesper Parnevik had a 68 and was three strokes back at 203. Phil Mickelson also had a 68 and was at 204.

Love hasn’t won in more than two years. One difficult day isn’t about to shake his confidence, but it was easy to lose hope Saturday when gusts came out of the north and changed the nature of the TPC at Las Colinas.

Most of the time, Love’s approach shots looked great--until they landed.

He was over the green on No. 6, and about 50 feet short of the pin on No. 8. He left it short in the bunker on No. 13, and wasn’t sure what to think from the 14th fairway. With 170 yards to the pin, he selected an eight-iron.

The ball sailed over the green, behind a cluster of flowers, and his chip back up the slope went over the green and almost down the bank into the water.

Huston holed an eight-footer for birdie, a two-shot swing that gave him the lead.

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Pat Hurst stepped to the first tee with a six-stroke lead in the new Electrolux USA Championship at Franklin, Tenn., and promptly carded a triple bogey. But she survived her horrible start to shoot an even-par 72 and has a two-stroke lead over Karrie Webb.

“I had an ‘oops’ on that,” Hurst said with a shrug. “Just because it happened on the first hole of my third round, I tried to be patient out there and not let it bother me.”

Webb, the most successful golfer on the LPGA Tour this year with four victories, didn’t waste the opportunity. She shot a five-under 67 and pulled into second at 207.

Hurst, who led after each of the first two rounds, hardly could have started the third any worse on the par-four, 384-yard No. 1.

Her tee shot went off the fairway behind a mound, and she hit her second into knee-high rough. She took a one-stroke penalty and moved back from the rough for her next shot, which came up short of the green. Hurst chipped to about 10 feet, but missed her putt just right and wound up with the triple bogey.

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Larry Nelson shot a five-under 67 to take a one-shot lead over Walter Hall and Mark Hayes after the second round of the seniors’ Nationwide Championship at Alpharetta, Ga.

Battling blustery winds and 90-degree heat, Nelson missed only two greens in moving to eight under for the tournament.

Hall used a seven-iron for a hole in one at the Golf Club of Georgia’s 13th hole en route to a 64, the day’s low round.

Hayes entered the second round with a one-shot lead and shot an even-par 72 by closing with two birdies.