Tim Herron, seeking his second PGA Tour victory in as many weeks, carded a two-under 68 on Saturday to share the third-round lead at the 4.9 million-dollar St. Jude's Classic with Tom Pernice.
Herron, coming off a playoff victory over Sweden's Richard Johnson in last week's Bank of America Colonial, posted four birdies on the front nine, but his hopes of taking an outright lead into the final round were thwarted with bogeys at the 12th and 14th that left him with a 54-hole total of seven-under 203.
Pernice, without a win since the 2001 International, fired a round that was a mirror image of Herron's.
He recorded two bogeys on the front nine before rallying with four birdies coming in for his 68 - his third straight round in the 60s.
Kris Cox was in third place, one shot off the pace, after firing his best round of the year, a bogey-free seven-under 63.
He made seven birdies, including four in a row from the 13th.
Cox, whose best career finish on tour is a tie for 18th here two years ago, has missed five straight cuts and nine of 11 this season.
Jay Delsing bettered his previous day's score for the second-straight round by carding a 66 and was tied with John Cook at five-under, two shots off the pace.
Delsing, who has played in eight events on the Nation-wide Tour this year, is making his second start on the PGA Tour and first since the Pebble Beach National Pro-Am in February.
After missing three of his last four cuts, Cook, the 1996 champion, signed for a 67 and remained in the hunt for his first victory since the 2001 Reno Tahoe Open and 12th overall.
Jeff Maggert and Ryan Palmer were both three shots off the lead in sixth place, one stroke ahead of Briny Baird, Zimbabwe's Nick Price and Colombia's Camilo Villegas.
Defending champion Justin Leonard posted a 68 and joined with David Toms - the winner here in 2003 and 2004 - Brian Gay and Australian John Senden on 208.
Following his 64 on Friday, second-round leader Darron Stiles ballooned to a 77 that included seven bogeys and no birdies and left him seven shots adrift.
LEADING THIRD-ROUND SCORES (USA unless noted):
203 - Tim Herron 70-65-68, Tom Pernice 67-68-68
204 - Kris Cox 74-67-63
205 - Jay Delsing 70-69-66, John Cook 69-69-67
206 - Jeff Maggert 72-66-68, Ryan Palmer 69-68-69
207 - Briny Baird 71-68-68, Nick Price (ZIM) 68-70-69, Camilo Villegas (COL) 70-66-71
208 - Justin Leonard 72-69-67, John Senden (AUS) 73-65-70, David Toms 69-67-72, Brian Gay 69-67-72
210 - Tjaart van der Walt (RSA) 73-70-67, Mathias Gronberg (SWE) 71-72-67, Ryuji Imada (JPN) 71-71-68, Richard S. Johnson (SWE) 72-69-69, Daisuke Maruyama (JPN) 68-73-69
213 - Greg Chalmers (AUS) 74-70-69, Jose Coceres (ARG) 73-68-72
214 - Gabriel Hjertstedt (SWE) 73-71-70, Stephen Leaney (AUS) 72-68-74
217 - Shigeki Maruyama (JPN) 70-72-75
220 - Henrik Bjornstad (NOR) 74-70-76.
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