Jun 30, 2002 5 min read

MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) – Glen Hnatiuk had never led a PGA tournament before this week, much less won a title. He knows exactly how it feels to scramble to make a cut or finish in the top 10. That experience will have to do.

“That’s what I have to draw on. It’s the only thing I have,” Hnatiuk said

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. 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.

“Obviously, I’m happy with the position I’m in. I don’t know how to react because I’ve never been in this position with any kind of lead. I’m looking forward to it,” he said.

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.

“Anybody in that pack has a chance to win I suppose,” Hnatiuk said. “If I let it.”

Hnatiuk’s best finish since joining the tour in 1998 was a tie for third at the 2000 B.C. Open, and he noted he played in the last group on Saturday and was next-to-last on Sunday in that event. He tied for eighth at Kemper earlier this month and has five top-25 finishes.

“I’m not going to do anything stupid, not going to take any crazy chances. But I still have to go on, go forward,” he said.

Begay, who chased down the leader in three of his four victories, said Hnatiuk will have to deal with nerves. Hnatiuk currently ranks 99th on the money list with $341,192 in earnings, and the winner of this tournament, sponsored by FedEx, will take home a $684,000 check.

“It’s just a fact of life,” Begay said. “Everybody who’s won, who’s been there, knows that. Now it just depends on how Glen handles it. He handled it great today. It didn’t look like it affected him in the least. … We’re sort of going to be chasing a rabbit.”

Hnatiuk shared a one-stroke lead with Petrovic after a suspended first round and had a one-stroke lead to himself following the second.

He didn’t hit his irons as well Saturday, but relied on his short game as he scrambled to keep his lead, including two chip-ins for birdie.

Hnatiuk wasted no time stretching his lead as he birdied his first two holes and went to 14 under.

He birdied the par-5 fifth after chipping up to 2 feet for a two-stroke lead over Begay, Bates and Lancaster.

“I wasn’t thinking right away this is my day or my tournament, but obviously it helped alot because I had the putter going,” Hnatiuk said.

Not even dropping a stroke with a bogey on No. 6 as he pulled his tee shot and couldn’t get up and down bothered him. He rebounded with birdies on two of the next three holes as he chipped in from 25 feet on No. 7, sank a 35-footer on No. 9 and turned at 16 under.

Hnatiuk, who didn’t miss a fairway on Friday, struggled off the tee.

He birdied the par-3 11th with a 10-foot putt then hit a wedge onto the green at the par-4 12th that hit the pin and spun back off the green and into the fringe. He chipped in for birdie from 18 feet that also hit the pin.

Hnatiuk saved par on the next three holes as he hit into the left rough with his drive on No. 13 and two-putted, put his tee shot into the rough left of the green on the par-3 14th and two-putted on No. 15.

Facing a birdie hole on the par-5, 528-yard 16th, Hnatiuk bounced a 3-wood off the green left into the rough. But he chipped up and tapped in for birdie that put him 18 under with a comfortable edge as he finished with consecutive pars.

Begay got the closest to Hnatiuk on the back nine, getting within two strokes as he birdied No. 16 to go 15 under. He gave the stroke back on No. 18 when he hung a 4-iron into a bunker right of the green and couldn’t get up and down.

Kuchar gave himself a chance as he birdied the final four holes, and he will be paired with Begay on Sunday. Divots:@ The PGA Tour already has had nine first-time winners this year. … Bob Estes, the defending champion, is nine strokes off the lead. But he had the shot of the day on the par-3 14th when he used a 4-iron from 224 yards for a hole-in-one. It was the 10th since this event moved to the TPC at Southwind. … Lancaster had a roller-coaster round for his 64. He could have tied the course record with his 10 birdies except he bogeyed the par-4 6th and the par-4 18th.