Scott sings happy tune in Memphis

Adam Scott wanted to kill time before the US Open by playing.

Now he's put himself in position to head to Oakmont Country Club as a wire-to-wire winner.

Scott, the world's fourth-ranked golfer, grabbed a three-stroke lead yesterday through three rounds of the Stanford St. Jude Championship in Memphis, shooting a 2-under-par 68 at the stingy TPC Southwind course.

The Australian, who shared the first-round lead with Fredrik Jacobson, had to wait until yesterday morning to see if he remained atop the leaderboard. A three-hour rain delay Friday led to a suspension that left 26 players to finish the second round yesterday.

Only Andrew Buckle, a fellow Aussie, had a chance to catch Scott at the end of the second round, and he double bogeyed his final hole. That left Scott, the Houston Open winner the week before the Masters, leading by a stroke after 36 holes. His third-round 68 gave him a 9-under 201 total.

Two-time Memphis winner David Toms shot a 66 and was 6 under along with Brian Gay (70), who blew a two-stroke lead with consecutive bogeys on the back nine. Woody Austin (67) was 5 under, followed by Brian Davis (68) at 4 under. Jacobson (70), Dean Wilson (66), Will MacKenzie (67), Joe Durant (68), and Brandt Snedeker (69) were 3 under.

John Daly, who overshadowed Scott's steady performance Friday when he accused his wife of waking him up that morning by attacking him with a steak knife, came in tied for 58th. He shot a 75 and was 74th at 9 over.

Scott bogeyed two of his first nine holes, letting Gay take a two-stroke lead at 8 under with two birdies over four holes. But Gay drove into the middle of the lake on the par-4 12th, setting up consecutive bogeys.

Champions -- Money leader Jay Haas strung together six birdies in seven holes and widened his lead to three strokes after two rounds of the Principal Charity Classic in West Des Moines, Iowa.

Haas, bidding for his third win of the season, shot a 31 on the back nine and finished at 4-under 67 for a 10-under 132 total. David Edwards (68) was second.

European -- Richard Green shot a 4-under 67 to take a three-stroke lead over Richard McEvoy (64) after the third round of the BA-CA Open in Oberwaltersdorf, Austria.