Brian Gay gave up a shot at the final hole to leave him with a slender lead as he chased a second PGA Tour victory of the year at the St Jude Classic today.

England’s Brian Davis and Greg Owen lie two shots behind first-round co-leaders Paul Goydos and Justin Leonard at the Valero Texas Open following a day of low scoring on Thursday at La Cantera near San Antonio.

Brian Gay strengthened his lead at the Verizon Heritage with a bogey-free third round four-under-par 67 at Harbour Town Golf Links in South Carolina.

Germany's Alex Cejka grabbed the first-round lead at the Verizon Heritage event as Jose Maria Olazabal found his way onto a leaderboard again at Harbour Town Golf Links.

Scott Verplank seized control at the Children’s Miracle Network Classic, moving to the top of the leaderboard after a late surge in the second round at Lake Buena Vista.

Johnson Wagner retained the lead after the third round at the Shell Houston Open, but Chad Campbell and Bob Estes surged up to challenge him.

Bob Estes and Tommy Armour III remained atop the leaderboard after they completed today’s second round at the Ginn sur Mer Classic in Florida.

England‘s Lee Westwood dropped out of contention at the top of the leaderboard in the Houston Open as Stuart Appleby headed a field of six players on six under after the second round.

Australians Steve Elkington and Mark Hensby have taken the number of withdrawals from the US PGA Championship at Medinah to eight.

Six players have now pulled out of the US PGA championship at Medinah in Chicago this week.

South African Trevor Immelman experienced bitter disappointment on the US Tour for the second week running today.

Mathias Gronberg avoided seeing where Stuart Appleby was on the leaderboard for most of the third round of the Shell Houston Open.

Darren Clarke, who threw away a chance to win the event on the 72nd hole last year, had a terrible opening day of the Verizon Heritage at Hilton Head Island yesterday, closing at five over par.

The controversial 17th hole at Sawgrass claimed American Bob Tway as one of its victims yet again today when the £5m (€7.2m) Players Championship began.

Ben Crane led from start to finish to win at the US Bank Championship in Milwaukee.

Padraig Harrington today pulled out of the Open championship following the death of his father last night from cancer of the oesophagus.

THE lesson of Pinehurst is self evident for Europe’s top golfers - if Michael Campbell can win the US Open, so can we.

Phil Mickelson and Colin Montgomerie were involved in damage limitation exercises today after hitting trouble in the US Open at Pinehurst.

Darren Clarke’s double-bogey on the par-four 18th hole allowed Peter Lonard to capture the MCI Heritage in South Carolina – the Australian’s first career victory on the PGA Tour.

Irish golfers Pádraig Harrington and Graeme McDowell have made the cut, but remain well off the pace after the second round of the Honda Classic in Florida.

Ernie Els will skip the $7.5m (€5.8m) Accenture Match Play for the second year in succession as he dedicates himself to Major glory.

Justin Rose tumbled into a tie for eighth place, five shots behind leader Shigeki Maruyama, after a disappointing two-over-par 72 in the third round of the Sony Open in Hawaii.

Darren Clarke has just completed the first hole of his third round at the British Open Golf Championship today.

Paul Casey was today trying to battle back into contention for the British Open championship at Royal Troon.

American Bob Estes today gave hope to the chasing pack in the early stages of the third round of the British Open championship at Royal Troon.

PAUL McGINLEY will be the first Irish player into action in the Open Championship at Royal Troon at 7.03am on Thursday.

Tee-off times in the second round of the United States Open golf championship at Shinnecock Hills, New York, on Friday.

Tee-off times in the first two rounds of the United States Open golf championship at Shinnecock Hills, New York, on June 17-18 (USA unless stated, all times Irish time):

Tee-off times in the first two rounds of the United States Open golf championship at Shinnecock Hills, New York, on June 17-18 (USA unless stated, all times Irish time):

PADRAIG HARRINGTON could well have one of the biggest galleries in the first two rounds after the US Masters draw paired him with world number two Vijay Singh and John Daly.

Padraig Harrington has a 3.20pm start in his Accenture World Matchplay quarter-final against world number one Tiger Woods.

Padraig Harrington and Darren Clarke reached the third round at the Accenture Match Play Championship in California yesterday.

Collated results in second round of the Accenture Matchplay Championship, La Costa Resort, Carlsbad, California

Accenture Match Play positions:

Ian Poulter today spearheaded a British and Irish charge into the third round of the Accenture Match Play Championship in California today.

Europe’s challenge for the Accenture Match Play Championship began superbly when the delayed second round finally got underway today.

Accenture Match Play positions:

Europe’s challenge for the Accenture Match Play Championship began brightly when the delayed second round finally got underway today.

Europe’s seven remaining players will try again today to reach the latter stages of the Accenture Match Play Championship.

Heavy rain delayed the start of the second round of the Accenture Match Play Championship by more than two hours in California today.

Colin Montgomerie hopes he is on his way back to the top – and is determined to appreciate it much more the second time around.

Padraig Harrington has single-handedly since April kept Europe representation in the top 10, golf’s end-of-year world rankings released today reveal.

Bob Estes, overlooked by Jack Nicklaus for America’s Presidents Cup side on Monday, eagled the 497-yard second to take the early lead in the $6m (€5m) NEC world championship in Akron today.