Nick Price's last-hole double bogey let three other men slip past him and into a tie for the lead Friday at the halfway point of the Nestle Invitational.
Vijay Singh of Fiji, Larry Mize and Andrew Magee vaulted into a three-way share of the top spot when Price blew the lead by taking four to get down from a greenside bunker on the 18th hole of Arnold Palmer's Bay Hill Club."All in all, I'm not unhappy," said Price, a winner last week in the Honda Classic. "If I'd lost the tournament right there it'd be something else, but there's two rounds left."
Singh, who began his American tour career in this tournament a year ago, shared the top spot with Mize and Magee at 137, 7-under-par for 36 holes.
Magee, who won this title three years ago, shot 67. Mize, on the mend from arthoscopic surgery on his right knee only 11 days ago, and Singh each had a 69.
Price, who last week scored his 12th worldwide victory in an 18-month span, was at 138 with Glen Day. Price matched par 72 and Day shot 68.
Michael Allen had three birdies and an eagle on the final four holes for a back-nine 32 and a round of 70. He was among seven golfers at 139, tied with defending champion Ben Crenshaw, Tom Watson, Dan Pohl, Ted Schulz, Paul Goydos and Tom Lehman. Lehman had a 67, Schulz shot 68 and Crenshaw, Goydos and Pohl had 69s. Watson shot a 70.
British Open champion Greg Norman could do no better than 72 and was at 140. John Daly was at 145 after a 72.
The 62-year-old host, Palmer, and Jack Nicklaus both failed to qualify for the final two rounds Saturday and Sunday. Palmer shot 78 for a 158 total and Nicklaus a 77 for a 152.
Price, whose 66 set the first-round pace, was cruising along in the lead until he came to the 441-yard finishing hole.
He pulled his drive into the rough and then buried a 7-iron second in the face of a steep bunker. From an awkward stance, he came out 50 feet long, lagged up to four feet and then missed that one.
"Six, as quick as that," he said.
In Galveston, Texas, Butch Baird shot a 2-under 69 Friday to take a four-shot lead after the second round of the Senior Series tournament.
Baird, who led after Thursday's first round with a 65, is 8-under for the tournament heading into Saturday's final round on the 6,296-yard, par 71 Galveston Country Club.
Three players - Dick Hendrickson, Babe Hiskey and Randy Fisk - are tied for second, four shots back at 138.
In Phoenix, Nancy Lopez tied a tournament record Friday with a vintage surge, shooting a 65, but fell just short of the lead at the Standard Register Ping.
Kelly Robbins, who entered hoping to make her first cut this season, and Connie Chillemi, who wanted to make par, exceeded their expectations with 3-under-par 70s to share the halfway lead.
The two, who started the second round a shot behind Caroline Keggi, finished at 8-under.