Molder one back at St. Jude

MEMPHIS, Tenn. Brian Gay, who has made quite a splash at the St. Jude Classic this week, made a costly one Saturday afternoon and Conway's Bryce Molder continues to ride a wave.

Molder, seeking his first PGA Tour victory, had his third straight round in the 60s Saturday afternoon, and the 5-under 65 pulled him within one shot of the lead at 14-under going into today's final round at TPC at Southwind. Gay, who has led the tournament since the first round, had a three-stroke lead over Molder going into the par-4 18th hole.

Then, Molder made up two strokes in a hurry. Gay hit his second shot in the water and had to made a solid approach shot within 5 feet on the par-4 hole to make bogey. Molder played the hole almost perfectly and nailed a 13-foot birdie putt to put himself in solid contention for the championship. The final round will be telecast on CBS beginning at 2 p.m. today.

Gay is currently ranked 12th in the FedEx Cup standings and won the Verizon Heritage Classic this year at Hilton head. He will be seeking a wire-to-wire victory here and has the reputation for playing well with a lead.

"That shouldn't have any effect on me," Molder said. "If I was trying to guard Kobe Bryant who can close off games pretty well, then that's something I would have an effect on him or wouldn't have an effect on him. He (Gay) can't really do anything about my game, I can't really do anything about his game. You just play it.

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"Obviously I'm not going to go out there expecting him to play poorly at all, because like he's had a very good year. And like I say, he already won by 10 this year, which is great, but tomorrow is a completely different day, and the golf ball doesn't know about the history of either one of us."

Molder, a former four-time first-team All-American at Georgia Tech in his ninth year as a pro, tied a career-best 63 Friday to tie for second with Robert Allenby (who is three strokes back in third at 11-under) after the rain-delay was completed Saturday morning. Molder bogeyed the second hole Saturday.

"It was a slow start," Molder said. "It wasn't an accident. I, for some reason, got out there and got on the range and my swing felt different than I did yesterday. Maybe it was nerves, maybe it was whatever, but I was able to get it in the middle of the fairway on 1 and kind of said a little prayer to myself, just to kind of have some peace out there and have some fun and, you know, within two, three, four holes, I kind of worked my way back into feeling the way I was yesterday, and it may have been kind of some early nerves. Timing is a little different, whatever. From about 3, 4 on I picked up from where I left off yesterday having a lost birdie chance. I hit it pretty much where I was looking, and I think the turning point was I had missed a birdie putt on 3 and a birdie putt on 4 that really could have made, should have made at least one of them.

"I get out there on the fairway on 5, and I've got a big old thing of mud on the ball and 200-something yards left and just kind of have to play for it and guess and aim over here. And I hit it and it ended up 15 feet and you make it. It's a little bit of a break there, but it kind of got me eased into just kind of back to where I was yesterday."

Molder said that was an extra satisfaction other than almost pulling even with Gay after he trailed the leader by five strokes early in the round.

"It's more than just satisfying because it's the first time I've been in the final group in a long time in a PGA (TOUR) event," he said. I didn't feel great going out there, and I made a bogey to show it and just to kind of be I don't know, kind of be at peace with myself when I was out there and not even necessarily trusting that I was going to turn around, just trust that if I found my swing, then I was going to turn it around."

The threesome Molder played in with Gay and Allenby began the day at the top of the leaderboard and finished the same way.

"You don't really realize it when you're there playing," Molder said. "I didn't really realize that yeah, as a group we shot probably close to 10-under and it didn't seem spectacular. I don't know how the rest of the players were playing or how the golf course was playing. You just kind of know when you're playing well, the golf course seems fairly easy, and when you're not playing well, you wonder how other guys shot some of the low scores that they did. But, you know, they're very accomplished players, and I guess I added a little bit to that."

Stealing part of the spotlight from the top three was Phil Mickelson, who by far has attracted the largest galleries of the tournament. The galleries cheer him on as Mickelson, the sentimental favorite is playing in a Tour event for the first time since his wife, Amy, was diagnosed with breast cancer.

The encouragement came at Mickelson as he spent nearly 30 minutes signing autographs for fans after a steamy day that featured 21 holes.

"We're praying for you," one fan offered.

"We're praying for your wife," another said.

And Mickelson, his eyes red, kept signing even as he moved away from a shady tree to take care of people waiting patiently in the baking sun. He didn't escape to the air-conditioned clubhouse until everyone still nearby was satisfied.

It's nothing new for Mickelson, even after a long day where his putter remained balky in shooting a 2-under 68 Saturday. That put him 10 strokes behind Gay who can punch his ticket to Bethpage Black and the U.S. Open if he finishes off a wire-to-wire victory Sunday in the St. Jude Classic.

The people here have been terrific," Mickelson said.

Mickelson started by finishing his last three holes of the second round because storms stopped play Friday, causing damage including a tree partialy downed near the 15th hole. He went birdie, bogey and double bogey. Then he had five birdies and three bogeys in the third.

In this comeback tournament, John Daly made the cut on the line at even par in his first PGA Tour event back from a six-month suspension. He shot a 68 that had him 1 over.

Mickelson's goal here was to work on his game and sharpen his competitive attitude and steal a few hours respite from the whirlwind of emotions he and his wife have been dealing with over the past month.

He is hitting the ball well. His putter? Well, he needed 33 putts to finish off the second round and 29 in the third. He missed a par-saving putt on No. 18, his ninth hole, as it rolled over the left edge, and he had the perfect line on a 35-footer on No. 9 for birdie that stopped just inches short.

Mickelson said the putter will be the club he focuses on most before the Open begins Thursday. Not that he's finished just yet in Memphis.

"May come out tomorrow and see if I can get a hot putter and shoot something low," he said.

(The Associated Press contributed to this report)