Trio tied for lead at LVI

Friday, Oct. 16, 1998 | 10:58 a.m.

Bob Tway is looking to qualify for the season-ending Tour Championship, David Ogrin is out to keep his tour card and Robert Damron is in search of his first PGA Tour victory.

And all three are in the hunt for the $360,000 first-place check in this weekend's Las Vegas Invitational.

Tway fired a 7-under-par 65 at the Las Vegas Country Club, Ogrin shot a 66 at the TPC at Summerlin and Damron, who shared the first-round lead with Mark Calcavecchia, turned in a 68 at the Desert Inn Golf Club Thursday to forge a three-way tie for the lead at 11-under 133.

Four players, including Paul Azinger, Las Vegas resident Bob May and defending LVI champion Bill Glasson, were one shot back of the leaders at 10-under 134. Forty-four players remained within five shots of the lead going into today's third round.

Tway is the tour's man on the bubble, coming into Las Vegas ranked 30th on the money list. Only the top 30 qualify for the lucrative Tour Championship in two weeks.

"I guess my first goal would be to try to win the golf tournament and second would be to try to play well enough to get into the (Tour Championship), that's for sure," Tway said.

Tway knows what it takes to pull off a win in the 90-hole tournament, having won the LVI in 1990.

Like Tway, Ogrin is up against the numbers this week. He came into Las Vegas ranked 132nd in earnings and needing a solid finish either here or next week in Florida to climb into the top 125 and keep his playing privileges for next year.

But Ogrin, a 16-year veteran of the PGA Tour, said he isn't sweating his standing on the money list.

"I'm 16 years on the PGA Tour, I'm 40 years old, I've been through a number of Qualifying Schools ... there is nothing I haven't done so I'm not worried about stuff," Ogrin said.

Ogrin finished in the top 40 in earnings each of the past two seasons, but has not made the money this year despite making 20 of 27 cuts. The explanation, Ogrin said, is simple.

"On one level, I've been playing great golf all year long ... statistically, the only thing I can see between '98 and '97 and '96 is my Sunday scoring average is pretty lousy," he said.

"You just open the book and you see the reason why (I am) sitting here talking about ending up making the top 125 instead of making the top 30."

Damron, a 25-year-old who is in his second season on tour, remained tied for the lead despite not having picked up a club from last Saturday until his round Wednesday.

He reiterated that withdrawing from last week's Michelob Championship after three rounds has been a benefit to him this week.

"I think it has helped me keep my expectations down this week and just remember to have fun," Damron said. "(A layoff like that) doesn't always affect you in a bad way -- sometimes it works out good, sometimes you forget bad habits.

"It doesn't surprise me the way I'm playing this week. I feel like I've been close in the last month ... and it just hasn't panned out. Hopefully I can just stay kind of loose and have fun with it and come out and do it again tomorrow."

While May might be the local favorite to win this week's tournament, Azinger gets the nod as the sentimental favorite. The 1987 LVI champion is looking for his first PGA Tour title since successfully battling cancer five years ago.

Azinger followed his opening-round 66 at the Desert Inn with a 68 at the Country Club Thursday and stood one shot back of the leaders after two rounds.

"Obviously, my end-all goal is to win a golf tournament," Azinger said.

"As far as what it would mean, it would be really gratifying. It's kind of like starting over in some respects. It's almost like a first win -- the first win after (battling cancer). I think if I were able to pull it off, I think everybody would really feel like, 'Hey, he ended up getting all the way back.' "